IOF Roche-GSK Communication Grants
These grants were set up by IOF and Roche-GSK (three grants of US$10,000 each) to help IOF member societies develop effective communications campaigns that stimulate increased awareness of osteoporosis. The activities should focus on important issues such as changing government healthcare policy, helping people determine their osteoporosis risk, recruiting members, and changing lifestyles of both adults and young people to further prevention through bone healthy behavior.
2007 IOF-Roche-GSK Communications Grants
These grant were awarded on December 14, 2007 at the IOF World Wide Conference of Osteoporosis Patient Societies in Miami. The winning societies were:
Chinese Osteoporosis Foundation of Chinese Development Foundation for Science & Technology (COF-CDFST)
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| Dr.Yanling Zhao, Secretary General of COF-CDFST. |
Summary of winning project:
COF-CDFST plans a Chinese Media Campaign to focus on the education of journalists and other media reporters in order to improve the quality of the information on osteoporosis that is reflected in news reports, and to increase the overall number of media reports.
This will be accomplished through professional media training and the launch of an annual Media Osteoporosis Award. TV advertisements as well as TV programs targeted at specific population groups (for example, on Women’s day, Children’s day, Elder’s day etc) will enhance the media impact of the campaign. In addition there will be a press event targeted at government officials and a far-reaching World Osteoporosis Day campaign with governmental support. In conjunction with the the campaign, the COF-CDFST will establish a project with pharmacies to distribute the new osteoporosis risk test nationwide and will produce information flyers for distribution to doctors.
Russian Association on Osteoporosis
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| From left: Gregory Füst of Roche; award winners Olga Lesynak and Olga Ershova; Prof. J-Y. Reginster, IOF general secretary; and Gorana Dasic of GSK |
Summary of winning project:
To raise awareness and improve the practical knowledge of osteoporosis among health professionals, and particularly among primary care physicians, the Russian Association on Osteoporosis is developing a multimedia training program. The program is to be issued on professionally designed and easy-to-use CDs, which will include lectures by leading experts, scientific articles, slides with comments, and self-testing modules. The 2000 CDs will be distributed free-of-charge in primary care clinics throughout Russia. Development of the CD will be carried out with the cooperation of experts from the Russian Academy of Medical Science’s Center of Osteoporosis Prevention, Institute of Rheumatology and Endocrinology Center.
Uruguayan Rheumatology Society
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| Dr. Vilma Chijani and Dr. Jaime Hernandez (3rd and 4th from left) of the Uruguayan Rheumatology Society accept the award. |
Summary of winning project:
The Uruguayan Rheumatology Society will carry out a ‘Bone Health Education’ program which aims to improve nutritional and physical activity habits among teenagers. The program, which must be coordinated with the school authorities and high school directors, will be set up as a quasi experimental study. It will include a baseline survey of about 800 students at six high schools, followed by a second survey of the potential impact resulting from the educational program. The program itself includes both a meeting to raise awareness of bone health (and the future consequences of inadequate gain of bone mass before the age of 21) and a ‘role model’ component using celebrities that are well known to teenagers. These include a popular football player and famous dancer and actress who have agreed to appear in videos in which they discuss how their own healthy lifestyle habits have contributed to their professional success. ‘Adolescent leaders’ selected by their peers and school staff will also play a role in the educational program.
2005: The 2005 grants were awarded on September 30, 2005 at the IOF World Wide Conference of Osteoporosis Patient Societies in Bangkok, Thailand. The three winning societies were the Norwegian Osteoporosis Society (Norway) for their project "Nordic walking"; FHOEMO (Spain) for their project "Spanish campaign on osteoporosis"; and the Uruguayan Rheumatology Society (Uruguay) for their project "Advertising for prevention of osteoporosis".
Click here for a description of the winning projects.
2003: IOF and Roche-GSK were pleased to present the first three awards on September 7, 2003 at the IOF World Wide Conference of Osteoporosis Patient Societies in Istanbul, Turkey. The three winning societies were the Bundesselbsthilfeverband fur Osteoporose e.v. (BfO), the Sociedad Brasileira de Patientes con Osteoporose (SOBRAPCO) and the Arthritis Foundation of India Trust.
