IOF calls for concerted support for second EU osteopor...( The International Osteoporosis Found...),Health

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) has urged all 27 EU countries to continue to seek government recognition and action to overcome the growing burden that osteoporosis places on health systems throughout Europe, as work continues on the second report to measure the status of osteoporosis management across member states.

The IOF is working with EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel members to prepare the report, Osteoporosis in the European Union in 2008: Ten years of progress and ongoing challenges, for launch on the occasion of World Osteoporosis Day 2008. This report will compare current findings with the original Eight Recommendations published in 1998 by the European Commission and the Osteoporosis in the European Community: A Call to Action, published in 2001, to assess progress in diagnosis, treatment, reimbursement policies, research, and education.

Speaking today in Brussels at the meeting of the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel, Professor John Kanis, IOF President, noted, "Across Europe, osteoporosis is a major public health problem with serious medical and economic impact. While there have been many advances in the management of osteoporosis over the past 10 years, important care gaps still exist."

For example, the recommended number of bone mineral density (BMD) machines is 10.6 machines per one million inhabitants. While this has improved since 2001, only 12 countries report BMD availability beyond 10.6. Similarly, although effective, evidence-based treatments are widely available throughout the EU, there are often restrictive criteria for reimbursement, especially before the first fracture occurs, setting the stage for untreated patients being at higher risk for subsequent fractures. While 19 out of 27 countries report that these treatments are available before the first fracture, restrictions based on age or bone density testing often make them inaccessible.

Professor Juliet Compston, Chair of the
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