World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) provides an all-important focal point for informing and educating the general public and policy makers about the prevention of a disease which still suffers from poor general awareness. With the number of participating countries and scheduled events increasing steadily year by year, the impact of WOD has grown significantly.
World Osteoporosis Day 2009 (October 20) will be the second year of a 'call to action' campaign. The 'Stand Tall' campaign seeks to mobilize the power of millions of voters, tax-payers and concerned citizens to improve osteoporosis healthcare policies in government healthcare systems, private insurance companies, and corporate healthcare networks.
Towards that end, the focus of the World Osteoporosis Day 2009 thematic report will be on FRAX® (WHO Fracture Risk Assessment Tool - Identifying people at high risk of fracture), a new tool which allows for a better allocation of healthcare resources.
We look forward to presenting a brief overview of IOF and national member society World Osteoporosis Day activities as October 20th approaches.
Stand Tall - Speak out for your bones
World Osteoporosis Day 2008 launched a two-year campaign which seeks to mobilize public opinion to generate change in osteoporosis healthcare policies.
It is a 'call to action' to the global osteoporosis movement, seeking to mobilize the power of millions of voters, tax-payers and concerned citizens to improve osteoporosis healthcare policies in government and private health care systems around the world.
View a selection of the World Osteoporosis Day activities carried out around the world.
The campaign objectives are to call on government health officials across all regions to recognize osteoporosis as a health priority; spread the message that more needs to be done by national governments and health insurers to promote early detection and offer reimbursement of much needed therapy for those with osteoporosis; and to call on individuals to take responsibility for their bone health and to support the work and advocacy efforts of their national osteoporosis societies.
Download World Osteoporosis Day thematic report
"Stand Tall, Speak Out: Take action to promote osteoporosis policy change"
Calling for change
Osteoporotic fractures are a major cause of suffering, disability and death in the older population and their costs to healthcare services exceed those of many other major chronic diseases. Furthermore, because of the increasing number of elderly people in the population, the number of fractures due to osteoporosis is set to increase two- to three-fold over the next few decades. This imminent increase in the number of people affected poses a major challenge to healthcare systems throughout the world. Read more facts and statistics on osteoporosis.
Despite significant advances in science and medicine, the reality today is that:
- Between twelve to twenty percent of people die within one year following a hip fracture.
- It is estimated that 80% of those who are at high risk of osteoporosis, and have suffered at least one fracture, have neither been identified nor treated for the disease.
- Many national governments do not treat osteoporosis as a major health priority and fail to provide adequate resources for its detection and treatment.
- Many health insurance schemes (private and public) will not cover diagnosis and treatment prior to the first fracture – even when it is cost effective to do so.
