What
is the Bone and Joint Decade?
The goal for the Bone and Joint Decade is to improve the health-
related quality of life for people with musculo-skeletal disorders
throughout the world. The Bone and Joint Decade will do this
through the following aims:
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To reduce the social and financial
cost of musculo-skeletal disorders to society |
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To improve prevention, diagnosis
and treatment for all patients |
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To advance research on prevention
and treatment |
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To empower patients to make
decisions about their care |
No single organisation alone can accomplish the desired benefits
for the patient. The Bone and Joint Decade is a multi-disciplinary
initiative involving everyone concerned with the care of bone
and joint disorders.
How did it come about?
The initiative was instigated by a group of healthcare professionals
who felt that the significant impact from bone and joint disorders
on society, the healthcare system and the individual, needed
to be addressed on a international level, with particular focus
on the use of resources. The idea began following the success
of the Decade of the Brain (1990-2000), which served to raise
awareness of the impact of brain disorder and led to significant
scientific advances. An inaugural consensus meeting was held
in Sweden in April 1998, which culminated in a proposal for
the Decade of the Bone and Joint from 2000 to 2010 as well as
the formation of the International Steering Group, consensus
document and a plan of continued work.
What diseases does the Bone and Joint Decade relate to?
The Bone and Joint Decade encompasses diseases associated with
musculo-skeletal disorders such as joint diseases, osteoporosis,
osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, low back pain, spinal
disorders, severe trauma to the extremities, crippling diseases
and deformities in children.
How is the Bone and Joint Decade team structured
The International Steering Group agreed on a simple coordinating
structure, to ensure that it provides support to local initiatives
and is fully representative of different geographic regions
and disciplines.
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An International Steering Committe
of 13 members has been appointed (including both professional
and patient organisations). |
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National Action Networks have
been established in 52 countries, comprising of multidisciplinary
organisations (patient and professional bodies, research
organisations, scientific journals and other stakeholders
in musculo-skeletal conditions), to set up and run national
programmes. |
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A national coordinator from
each National Action Network forms a National Coordinators
Group to liaise with the Steering Group. |
How can national governments show their support?
Governments can show their support in the following ways. The
highest level would be a proclamation by the President or Prime
Minister of a country. The next level would be to sign an endorsement
using the specially designed Bone and Joint Decade Declaration
and the third level when a Ministry of Health declares that
it recognises musculo-skeletal disorders as an important and
growing problem and that they support the initiative. Forty-nine
countries have officially endorsed the Bone and Joint Decade.
What is the burden, prevalence
and incidence of bone and joint diseases?
Burden of disease refers to a combination of the incidence/prevalence,
impact (in terms of quality of life and disability), and cost
of musculo-skeletal disorders to the individual and to society.
A working group from the International Bone and Joint Decade
Steering Committee, in collaboration with the World Health
Organisation, is reviewing and collating data on the burden
of musculo- skeletal conditions globally, called the Bone
and Joint Decade Monitor Project. The group will also address
the present provision of musculo- skeletal care, the ideal
provision of care, and the costs and priorities for change
in the care of patients with musculo-skeletal conditions.
Until international statistics are available, the following
facts illustrate the global severity of these conditions.
Facts that illustrate severity on a global scale:
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Across the world, musculo-skeletal
conditions affect hundreds of millions of people, at a
huge cost to society (estimated at $215 billion per year
in the USA alone). |
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Worldwide, musculo-skeletal
conditions are the most common causes of severe long-term
pain and physical disability. |
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In the USA alone, musculo-skeletal
conditions are a leading cause of disability, accounting
for more than 131 million patient visits to healthcare
providers annually. |
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Joint diseases account for half of all
chronic conditions in people aged 60 and over. |
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Road traffic injuries are increasing precipitously,
and by the year 2010, are estimated to account for as
much as 25% of all health care expenditures in developing
nations. |
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Fragility fractures have doubled in the
last decade. Forty per cent of all women over 50 years
will suffer an osteoporotic fracture. The number of hip
fractures will rise from about 1.7 million in 1990 to
6.3 million by 2050 unless aggressive preventive programs
are started. |
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Osteoarthritis accounts for half of all
chronic conditions in persons aged over 65. Some 25 %
of people over the age of 60 have significant pain and
disability from osteoarthritis. The economic consequences
of osteoarthritis are enormous, for example, it is rated
the highest cause of work loss in USA, despite being a
condition that causes most problems to populations after
retirement age. |
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Osteoarthritis accounts for half of all
chronic conditions in persons aged over 65. Some 25 %
of people over the age of 60 have significant pain and
disability from osteoarthritis. The economic consequences
of osteoarthritis are enormous, for example, it is rated
the highest cause of work loss in USA, despite being a
condition that causes most problems to populations after
retirement age. |
|
Low back pain is the most frequent cause
of limitation of activity in the young and middle aged,
one of commonest reasons for medical consultation, and
the most frequent occupational injury. Back pain is the
second leading cause of sick leave. |
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In Sweden health economists have calculated
the society cost of illness for musculoskeletal disorders
to be by far the highest even compared to brain and mental
diseases added together. |
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The number of individuals over the age
of 50 is expected to double between 1990 and 2020. In
Europe by 2010, for the first time, there will be more
people over 60 years of age than people less than 20 years
of age, resulting in a huge escalation of treatment costs. |
What is the effect of bone and joint diseases on morbidity?
Musculo-skeletal disorders are a major cause of morbidity throughout
the world with a substantial influence on health and quality
of life. This burden is not well quantified in some countries
and there is insufficient information of the impact of these
conditions on health at present – identifying this burden
is a major activity of the Bone and Joint Decade.
For more information, please go to our website: www.boneandjointdecade.org
- Global. |
