Muskel Skjelett Tiåret 2000-2010

On January 13, 2000, the Bone and Joint Decade was formally launched at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. This comes on the heels of the November 30, 1999 endorsement by the United Nations. UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan said, "There are effective ways to prevent and treat these disabling disorders, but we must act now. Joint diseases, back complaints, osteoporosis and limb trauma resulting from accidents have an enormous impact on individuals and societies, and on healthcare services and economies."

The goal of the Bone and Joint Decade is to improve the health- related quality of life for people with musculoskeletal disorders throughout the world. These disorders are the most notorious and common causes of severe long-term pain and physical disability, affecting hundreds of millions of people across the world. The Decade aims to raise awareness and promote positive actions to combat the suffering and costs to society associated with musculoskeletal disorders such as joint diseases, osteoporosis, spinal disorders, severe trauma to the extremities and crippling diseases and deformities in children.

The goal will be achieved by:

• Raising awareness of the growing burden of musculoskeletal disorders on society
• Empowering patients to participate in their own care
• Promoting cost-effective prevention and treatment
• Advancing understanding of musculoskeletal disorders through research to improve prevention and treatment

No one single organisation alone can accomplish the desired benefits for the patient or his or her family. The Decade is a multi- disciplinary, global campaign that will implement and promote initiatives in all parts of the world. These will be developed in partnership with appropriate patient, professional and scientific organisations, companies, healthcare providers, governments and non- government organisations in consultation with global and regional stakeholders.

Beginnings

The Bone and Joint Decade began with an inaugural consensus meeting in Lund, Sweden in April 1998 at which time its goal and objectives were agreed. An International Steering Committee of fifteen experts from various geographical regions and disciplines guide the Bone and Joint Decade. The diversity of the ISC and its staff includes rheumatologists, researchers, orthopedic surgeons, patient advocates, trauma, rehabilitation, and emergency medicine specialists from Japan, United States, Sweden, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Brazil, France, Switzerland, Germany, and the Sultanate of Oman. The staff consists of one full-time secretariat (Sweden), two part-time managing directors (Director of Development in Germany and Spokesperson and Director of Strategic Relations in the United States) and a technical engineer (Sweden). The ISC meets monthly via teleconference and/or face-to-face meetings to provide hands-on guidance to the initiative.

The Bone and Joint Decade is headquartered in Lund, Sweden under the leadership of the ISC Chairman, Prof. Lars Lidgren, MD, who is Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Lund.

The initial outreach calls for a 3-part strategy: (1) the endorsement of the Bone and Joint Decade by patient and health professional organisations throughout the world; (2) the call for coordinators to step forward to coalesce the endorsing organisations within nation borders into National Action Networks to leverage their national priorities within the framework of the Bone and Joint Decade umbrella and mission; and (3) the call for broad dissemination about the Decade through health professional journals around the world.

Go to http://www.boneandjointdecade.org