European Union Osteoporosis Consultation Panel

In 2002, with support from the European Union (EU), the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel (see members) was convened, bringing together policy makers and osteoporosis experts from the member states, and mandating them to work with stakeholders at both national and EU levels to implement practical, cost-effective strategies to improve access to diagnosis and proven therapies before the first fracture.  IOF continues to support the activities of the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel, including their annual meetings held in conjunction with the European Parliament (EP) Osteoporosis Interest Group.

The initial 18-month project, a key building block in implementing recommendations outlined in the EC 1998 ‘Report on Osteoporosis in the European Community - Action for Prevention’ and the subsequent "Call to Action" by the EP Osteoporosis Interest Group, has been continued and is making strides in encouraging policy officials to focus attention on osteoporosis at the EU and national levels. Various reports have been published, with the latest in 2008 when IOF worked with the Panel in order to conduct a comprehensive EU-wide audit of the prevalence of osteoporosis and the status of its management in Europe. See Osteoporosis in the European Union in 2008: Ten years of progress and ongoing challenges as well as individual country reports. 

Dr. Eduardo Fernandez Zincke, member of cabinet EU Commission for Health, Prof. Juliet Compston, Chair of the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel, Prof. John Kanis, IOF President at 8th Panel Meeting

Meeting of the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel

The 8th EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel meeting took place on Wednesday, 7 October 2009 in Brussels, with 34 participants from 15 EU countries, including representatives from the European Parliament Osteoporosis Interest Group and from the EU Commissioner for Health.

Participants discussed the three following issues:

-FRAX®, a new web-based tool to help identify people at high risk of fragility fracture;

-National guidelines: developing and implementing management guidelines in EU countries;

-Policy change at the EU: strategies and challenges ahead

Following fruitful panel discussions, participants agreed on a common strategy to build on work accomplished during the past ten years, and to raise osteoporosis higher up on the EU’s public health agenda. See meeting report (PDF, 120.3 KB)

List of European Union Osteoporosis Consultation Panel Members

(as of October 2009)

Consultation Panel Chair

Prof. Juliet Compston
Metabolic Bone Disease, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine;
Board Member, International Osteoporosis Foundation

Consultation Panel Senior Advisor

Prof. Socrates Papapoulos
Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, University of Leiden;
Board Member, International Osteoporosis Foundation

Consultation Panel Co-ordinator

Victoria Monti
Policy Manager, International Osteoporosis Foundation

National Members

Austria

Prof. Gerold Holzer
University of Vienna Medical School; Austrian Menopause Society

Hon. Prof. Dr. Robert Schlögel
Federal Ministry of Health and Women

Belgium

Dr Stefan Goemaere
Belgium Bone Club

Bulgaria

Dr Roussanka Kovatcheva-Gueorguieva
Bulgarian League for the Prevention of Osteoporosis (BLPO)

Cyprus

Dr George L. Georgiades
Cyprus Association for Musculoskeletal Diseases

Dr Christodoulos Kaisis
Ministry of Health

Czech Republic

Dr Milan Bayer
Czech Society for Metabolic Skeletal Diseases

Denmark

Dr Bente Lomholt  Langdahl
Danish Bone Society

Estonia

Dr Katre Maasalu, President, Estonian Osteoporosis Society

Dr. Toomas Tein, Senior orthopaedic surgeon of Tartu University Hospital; Board member of Estonian Orthopaedic Society; Member of Tartu Council, Estonia

Finland
Prof. Christel Lamberg-Allardt
University of Helsinki

Olli Simonen
Chairman, Finnish Association of Osteoporosis

France
Prof. Liana Euller-Ziegler
Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital of Nice;
Bone & Joint Decade French Network Co-ordinator

Prof. Thierry Thomas
Head of Rheumatology Department, General Secretary of GRIO, INSERM, University Hospital

Germany

Dr Karsten Dreinhöfer
Orthopädische Gesellschaft für Osteologie (OGO)
Deputy Head, Department of Orthopedics
Ulm University

Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth
Former President of the Bundestag, Head of the Parliamentary Assembly Delegation of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Greece

Dr Costas Phenekos
Designated Representative of the Ministry of Health and Welfare; Director, Red Cross Hospital, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism

Prof. George Lyritis
Hellenic Osteoporosis Foundation

Hungary

Prof. Istvan Marton
Hungarian Osteoporosis Patients Association and Hungarian Society for Osteoporosis and Osteoarthrology

Ireland

Prof. Moira O’Brien
Irish Osteoporosis Society

Dr. Liam Twomey
Shadow Minister of Health

Italy

Prof. Sergio Ortolani
Metabolic Bone Diseases Unit, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS

Latvia

Dr Ingrida Circene
Member of Parliament, Latvia

Lithuania
Dr Vidmantas Alekna
President, Lithuanian Osteoporosis Foundation

Luxembourg

Dr Marco Hirsch
Luxembourg Association for the Study of Bone Metabolism and Osteoporosis (ALEMO)

Dr Simone Steil
Chief Medical Officer, Division of Preventable Diseases, Ministry of Health

Malta

Prof. Mark Brincat
Designated Representative of the Ministry of Health

Dr Raymond Galea
President, Malta Osteoporosis Society

The Netherlands

Ms. Elisabeth de Boer-Oosterhuis
Chief Executive, Osteoporosis Society

Prof. Huibert A. P. Pols
Internist, Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam

Dr Pepita Groeneweld
Ministry of Public Health

Poland

Prof. Roman Lorenc
Professor of Biochemistry and Experimental Medicine, President of the Multidisciplinary Osteoporotic Forum

Portugal

Dr Viviana Tavares
Rheumatologist, Consultant for the Working Group for the National Plan Against Rheumatic Diseases, General Directorate of Health

Romania

Dr Salvina Mihalcea
Association for Prevention of Osteoporosis in Romania (ASPOR)

Slovakia

Dr Eugen Nagy
Slovak Ministry of Health

Prof. Juraj Payer
Slovak Osteoporosis Society

Slovenia

Dr Dusa Hlade Zore
President of the Slovene Osteoporosis Patient Society

Assoc Prof. Tomaz Kocjan 
Slovenia Bone Society

Spain

Prof. Jorge B. Cannata Andia
Service of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, Istitute Reina Sofia of Investigation, Oviedo

Dr Sagrario Mateu Sanchis
Chief, Mother and Child Health, Ministry of Health

Sweden

Sol-Britt Sundvall
Swedish Rheumatism Association

United Kingdom

John Austin
Member of Parliament

Juliette Brown
Communications and Public Affairs Director
National Osteoporosis Society

Anne Simpson
National Osteoporosis Society, Development Manager for Scotland

Jeanette Owen
National Osteoporosis Society, Development Manager for Northern Ireland and Wales

Ann Jones, Assembly Member, Wales

European Parliament Osteoporosis Interest Group Co-chairs

Ms. Mary Honeyball
Member of the European Parliament, UK

Anja Weisgerber
Member of the European Parliament, Germany

International

Prof. Kristina Akesson
Project Partner, Bone & Joint Decade 2000-2010

Prof. David Marsh
Project Partner, International Society for Fracture Repair

Patrice McKenney
International Osteoporosis Foundation

 

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