Every year on 20th October World Osteoporosis Day is celebrated which marks the start of a year-long campaign to raise global awareness about the osteoporosis prevention , diagnosis and treatment and metabolic bone disease. The World Osteoporosis Day campaign is coordinated by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), and also supported by community gatherings and local campaigns by national societies of osteoporosis patients from around the world with activities in over 90 countries.
Worldwide, an osteoporotic fracture occurs in one in three women and one in five men aged from 50 years and over. By reaching out to health professionals, the media, policy makers, patients, and the public at large, World Osteoporosis Day aims to make osteoporosis and fracture prevention a global health priority.
What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a bone condition arising when the body is losing too much bone, becoming too weak a bone, or both. As a consequence, bones become brittle and can break from a fall, or from sneezing or small bumps in extreme cases.
Osteoporosis means “porous bone.” Healthy bone appears like a honeycomb when viewed under a microscope. The holes and spaces in the honeycomb are much larger when osteoporosis occurs than in healthy bones. Osteoporotic bones have lost mass or density and contain an irregular arrangement of tissue. They weaken and are more likely to break as bones become less dense. Ask your doctor or healthcare provider for a bone density examination if you are 50 or older and have broken a bone.
Campaign of World Osteoporosis Day 2021
This year the campaign of World Osteoporosis Day 2021 will feature- “Take Action for Bone Health OSTEOPOROSIS can be prevented and treated.
This year World Osteoporosis Day will emphasize the importance of taking action to prevent osteoporosis and other bone-related problems. With the help of the general public and patients, we hope to improve bone health at all ages and reduce the incidence of osteoporosis and fractures in later life.
Osteoporosis-related fractures have a devastating effect on millions of people around the world, resulting in enormous socio-economic costs to society and health systems. Yet, a minority of men and women are currently seeking treatment, despite successful medical advancements to minimize fractures. Osteoporosis treatment is currently obtained by just 10 percent of older women with fractures. In 2010, some 12.3 million individuals deemed to be at high risk for osteoporotic fractures were left untreated in Europe alone.
Background
The United Kingdom ‘s National Osteoporosis Society launched World Osteoporosis Day on 20 October 1996 and supported by the European Commission. Since 1997, the International Osteoporosis Foundation has organized this awareness day campaign. The World Health Organization served as co-sponsor of World Osteoporosis Day in 1998 and 1999. The day marks also the start of a year-long osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease awareness campaign. The campaigns have featured a particular theme since 1999.
Swikriti Dandotia
