Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010

Musculoskeletal health is becoming one of the primary challenges for health care worldwide. This led to the creation of Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010.

Supported by the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and numerous countries, the international not-for-profit organization has gained support in about 100 countries, including Canada, Australia, the United States and most of Europe.

Such international initiatives are necessary with an aging but active baby boomer population, a plethora of health-issue lobbies competing for funding and attention, and an increasingly taxed health care system. Medical care now forms half of the budgets of many Canadian provinces.

Musculoskeletal problems affect roughly one in five Canadians, and account for about 40% of long-term disability costs and one-sixth of all hospitalization costs. Many of these expenses could be reduced with greater information and intervention.

The not-for-profit group Bone and Joint Decade Canada, the domestic arm of the international Bone and Joint Decade program, has partnered with charities, private corporations, and professional associations to raise awareness of the prevalence, challenges and nature of disorders of the musculoskeletal system among governments and individuals.

For more information:

You can read more about the international program at http://www.bjdonline.org/
and about the Canadian initiative here: http://www.bjdcanada.org/