The IX Russian Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Other Metabolic Diseases of the Skeleton with international participation took place in St. Petersburg from September 5-7, 2024.

The organizers were the Russian Association on Osteoporosis (RAOP) and the St. Petersburg public organization “Person and his

Health”. The Congress took place both as an in-person event and online. Almost 1700 people participated in the Congress, including 263 people who came to St. Petersburg. The organizers reported that doctors from 13 countries - Azerbaijan, Belarus, Central Asia, Moldova, etc. - participated in the congress. Within the framework of the event, the Competition of Young Scientists was held. Different Master classes were also held, for example, “How to organize a service for the prevention of recurrent fractures” (Ksenia Belova, PhD.  Yaroslavl), “Epidemiology of osteoporosis: from diversity to uniformity. We invite doctors to scientific cooperation” (Dr.  Ludmila Evstigneeva, PhD, Yekaterinburg) and others.

The Prize-2024 named after Prof. Lidia Ivanovna Benevolenskaya (1931 -2012), the founder of RAOP, was awarded to Professor of the Yaroslavl State Medical University, Vice-President of RAOP, Head of the Osteoporosis Patients Society “OSTEORUS” Olga Ershova, PhD for her great personal contribution to the work of the Russian Osteoporosis Association, as well as for her scientific work. Professor Olga Lesniak, PhD  (President of RAOP) noted Olga Ershova's outstanding activity in raising awareness of the problem of osteoporosis, educating about prevention and treatment of the disease, and developing advanced approaches in the organization of care for patients with osteoporosis at the award ceremony. The head of “OSTEORUS” thanked her colleagues for their appreciation of her work and emphasized that RAOP members are a friendly family, as everyone always interacts and helps each other. She expressed great gratitude to her teachers and especially to Lidia Ivanovna Benevolenskaya, under whose guidance “we learned to be what we have become now, mastered the basics of epidemiology of rheumatic diseases” and emphasized: “I will try to continue to justify the trust of the colleagues”.

The Conference of the Russian Osteoporosis Patients Society “OSTEORUS” was also held as part of the main congress. The event was co-chaired by Olga Lesniak and Olga Ershova. Victoria Sotskova ,a member  of the Russian Union of Journalists and Head of the OSTEORUS Press Service, delivered a report on “Opportunities for using digital tools and mass public events to disseminate information on osteoporosis prevention”.

RAOP members Larisa Boeva from Krasnoyarsk, Radik Nurlygayanov from Ufa, Elvira Otteva from Khabarovsk, and Galina Evstifeeva (“OSTEORUS”) from Yaroslavl, shared their successful experience of marking World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) established by International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) in their regions.

Olga Ershova spoke about the plans for WOD-2024 events in Russia The main motto of WOD “Say NO to Fragile Bones” was proposed by IOF.  The theme aims to end the inertia associated with bone health by encouraging people of all ages to value and protect their bones.

The years 2020-2030 have been declared by the UN as the “Decade of Healthy Longevity”, so it is important to hold joint events with geriatricians and with various non-profit public organizations representing the interests of the elderly. 

The traditional Children's Drawing Contest this year is held under the motto “Artificial Intelligence in the fight for healthy bones”. Based on the results of the contest, the winning drawings will be included in the OSTEORUS calendar for 2026.

The structure of the All-Russian Patient Society Coordination Center has been expanded: Olga Ershova (PhD, Professor, YSMU, Vice-President of RAOP, Head of “OSTEORUS”, Yaroslavl; Galina Evstifeeva (Deputy Head of “OSTEORUS”); Ksenia Belova (PhD., Head of the Department of Health Care Organization, YSMU, Vice-President of RAOP, Yaroslavl; Victoria Sotskova (member of the Union of Journalists of Russia and the Union of Literature of Russia), of RAOP, Yaroslavl; Victoria Sotskova (member of the Union of Journalists of Russia and the Union of Russian Writers, press secretary of “OSTEORUS”, Yaroslavl; Larisa Menshikova (PhD, Professor,    Irkutsk); Elvira Ottewa (PhD, Professor, Chief Rheumatologist of Khabarovskii Region and the Far East); Radik Nurlygayanov (Candidate of Medical Sciences, Head of the Osteoporosis Center, Ufa).

Victoria Sotskova and Galina Evstifeeva, OSTEORUS activists, were recognized for their educational work among the patient community.

World Osteoporosis  Day (WOD) is held on October 20 worldwide under the auspices of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF).  Every year national societies worldwide receive valuable recommendations and materials from IOF for the event. In Russia, WOD has been organized by the  All-Russian Osteoporosis Patient Society “OSTEORUS” in conjunction with the Russian   Association on Osteoporosis  (RAOP) since 2011. The focus of the events is education on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of the disease, and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and active longevity. We highly appreciate the tremendous work of the IOF team and all the recommended tools that help us raise awareness about osteoporosis and its prevention among the population of our country.

News provided by Victoria Sotskova and Galina Evstifeeva