With only two weeks until October 20th and World Osteoporosis Day, the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and its network of more than 265 member patient and medical societies worldwide are calling for participation in the annual global campaign to raise awareness of osteoporosis and fracture prevention. 

Under the banner of ‘Take action for bone health’, IOF will call on people of all ages to be on the alert for osteoporosis risk factors and to take measures to protect their bones, including through healthy nutrition and exercise. The campaign will also urge national health authorities and the medical community to prioritize bone health within their healthcare systems.

IOF President Professor Cyrus Cooper states: 

“World Osteoporosis Day is an occasion to remind ourselves just how important it is to be proactive on behalf of our own bone health. After all, it’s only with strong bones and muscles that we are able to remain mobile, active, and independent in our retirement years.”

“IOF will also call on the healthcare community to ensure that every patient at risk has access to timely diagnosis and treatment. An important way to target people who are at the highest risk is to ensure that post-fracture care coordination programs are widely available and accessible to anyone who suffers an osteoporosis-related fracture.”

He added:

“With broad community support in all regions of the world, we hope to amplify these important World Osteoporosis Day messages.”

Worldwide, one in three women and one in five men aged fifty years and over will break a bone due to osteoporosis, and many go on to suffer a cycle of life-threatening fractures which can lead to long-term disability. Yet, despite the enormous burden of disease, osteoporosis remains a vastly underdiagnosed and undertreated disorder. This ‘treatment gap’ is exposed in a new IOF European study which has revealed that approximately 71% of European post-menopausal women who are considered at high risk of fracture are not receiving treatment.

The new World Osteoporosis Day website provides posters and many other multilanguage resources that can be downloaded for use in awareness campaigns or social media communications and can be displayed in doctors’ offices, hospitals, businesses, or schools. IOF also welcomes information about local campaigns taking place to mark the occasion and provides a global World Osteoporosis Day Events Map where the campaigns or events can be shown. 

Any concerned individuals or organizations who wish to show their support for the rights of people with osteoporosis can also participate by signing the IOF Global Patient Charter. 

###

World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) held annually on October 20 calls for global action to fight osteoporosis and related fractures. www.worldosteoporosisday.org  
Contact info@iofbonehealth.org for media information.

IOF thanks the following World Osteoporosis Day Partners for their unrestricted support: Sunsweet, UCB, Amgen, Sandoz, Theramex

About IOF
The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest nongovernmental organization dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF members, including committees of scientific researchers as well as 268 patient, medical and research societies, work together to make fracture prevention and healthy mobility a worldwide health care priority. https://www.osteoporosis.foundation   @iofbonehealth