As a member of the Asia Pacific Fragility Fracture Alliance (APFFA), the International Osteoporosis Foundation, together with Capture the Fracture^®, congratulate APFFA on the launch of a comprehensive educational toolkit designed to arm primary care physicians (PCPs) with practical resources to aid the identification, assessment and ongoing management of those at fracture risk. 

The Education Toolkit contains a host of materials to enable the planning and execution of two workshops to provide PCPs with the necessary tools to fulfil their critical role in reducing the burden of osteoporotic fractures. 

Professor Cyrus Cooper, IOF President and Professor of Musculoskeletal Science at the Universities of Oxford and Southampton, UK stated:

“We welcome this toolkit which provides important messages and helpful tips for PCPs in the Asia-Pacific region. With greater knowledge, physicians in primary care settings can be instrumental in closing the pervasive treatment gap which leaves at-risk patients unprotected against future fractures.”

Dr Philippe Halbout, IOF CEO and member of the Capture the Fracture Steering Committee added:

“There is great value in a collaborative approach to education and training. We encourage IOF member organizations and all interested post-fracture care experts within the Capture the Fracture community in the Asia-Pacific region to make use of this new APFFA resource as an opportunity to educate local PCPs.”

The burden of osteoporosis in the Asia-Pacific, is enormous and growing rapidly. According to the APFFA press release issued for the launch of the toolkit on September 28th, more than 1.1 million hip fractures were estimated to have occurred in China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, respectively in 2018. By 2050, the number of hip fractures are projected to more than double, to exceed 2.5 million cases per annum. In the release, APFFA Education Working Group Chair, Professor Robert Blank, stated:

“Due to the ubiquity of osteoporosis, PCPs are uniquely placed to identify and manage patients at risk of fractures. There are too many patients for all to be managed by specialists, even in well-resourced countries. Primary care therefore plays a critical role in preventing the health burden associated with osteoporosis, with the majority of medicines for osteoporosis initiated by PCPs.

“While those who sustain a minimal trauma fracture may not always present to a hospital, almost all who do, will eventually see their PCP, positioning the PCP as pivotal to ensuring patients are appropriately managed post- fracture.”

“Currently, a concerning 70-85 per cent of patients presenting to their PCP or hospital with a minimal trauma fracture, are neither assessed for osteoporosis, nor appropriately managed, to prevent further fractures.”

The PCP Education Toolkit features recommendations to enable osteoporosis to be given more attention in clinical practice settings. Assets in the toolkit include a facilitator’s guide, workshop presentations and agendas, template invitations and promotional emails for distribution to prospective participants.  At the completion of each workshop, each participant will receive a certificate of completion courtesy of the APFFA Education Working Group. 

>>>    Access the APFFA PCP Education Toolkit 

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IOF is a member of APFFA which comprises seven global and regional member organisations from the geriatrics, orthopaedics, osteoporosis and rehabilitation sectors. The organisation’s primary purpose is to drive policy change, improve awareness and change political and professional mindsets, to facilitate optimal fragility fracture management across Asia Pacific.