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Activities planned for decade awareness week Oct. 12-20
Activities in Kansas will have a road safety theme. In Cleveland the “Protect Your Bones” program will be launched at six high schools.
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The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010, the international campaign to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health issues, is nearly at its halfway point. Fifty-four governments have endorsed it according to organizers in Lund, Sweden, as well as all 50 U.S. states. To increase the momentum, a decade awareness week is being held worldwide Oct. 12-20.
Many countries and organizations have announced plans to participate. The governments of 10 states and two U.S. cities have committed to endorsing this year’s national awareness week, according to Toby King, executive director of the U.S Bone and Joint Decade.
Awareness week is held annually on these same dates during all the years of the decade with separate dates devoted to a different musculoskeletal area. Oct. 12 is world arthritis day. Oct. 16 is world spine day. World trauma day is Oct. 17 and Oct. 20 is world osteoporosis day.
When this issue of Orthopedics Today went to press the states that had issued national awareness week proclamations were Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. In addition, New York City and the Borough of Upper Saddle River, N.J., each pledged to issue special proclamations.
Some organizations said they have activities planned for later dates. “In the United States we’ve been given Oct. 12-20 as national awareness week, but some things are happening on other dates and for us that’s not a problem,” King said.
Kansas and Ohio have themed programs in place, he said. Kansas is focusing on road safety. Orthopedic surgeon Kimberly Templeton, MD, has been involved in this year’s effort making presentations with other health care professionals at schools and to community groups leading up to the start of awareness week.
Templeton chairs the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade public education committee and is past president of the Kansas Orthopaedic Society.
The state is promoting road safety to high school students and members of Students Against Destructive Decisions by hosting an event held in conjunction with the Kansas Highway Patrol. Parents are expected to participate, as well, King said.
Bone health program
In Ohio, the awareness week theme will be “Protect Your Bones,” the name of a new program on bone and joint health aimed at high school students. Developed by resident Michael DeFranco, MD, at the Cleveland Clinic, it is being launched at eight Cleveland-area high schools in October. The subject will be introduced at each school through presentations given by medical students. Students will be quizzed at the outset on their knowledge of musculoskeletal conditions and retested afterwards to determine what they learned.
Orthopedic surgeons supporting the program are Edward Benzel, MD, chairman, Cleveland Clinic Spine Institute and vice chairman, department of neurosurgery; Joseph Ianotti, MD, PhD, chairman, department of orthopedics at the Cleveland Clinic and head of the upper extremity section of the Orthopedics Today editorial board; and John A. Bergfeld, MD, director, Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. Bergfeld, member of the sports medicine section of Orthopedics Today's editorial board.
Cleveland’s mayor, the Cuyahoga County Commissioner and the governor of Ohio are expected to make official proclamations shortly recognizing the Protect Your Bones program, as well as the decade.
The Protect Your Bones program goes beyond the schools, however, and plans are underway to raise awareness of the program through the media and Cleveland Clinic’s internal computer network, organizers said.
Nationwide a public education campaign called Bone Run Walk’n Roll is being conducted at several rehabilitation centers. More information on it can be obtained from the Association of Academic Physiatrists Web site.
Among the many international activities being planned, decade organizers announced that on Oct. 14 a 24-hour long electronic lecture series will be held on a musculoskeletal-related subject. These lectures have been held before and participation is open to anyone. More information will be available as the date approaches and can be found at www.boneandjointdecade.org.
Awareness week programs are scheduled to be held in Germany, Croatia and New Zealand along with other countries.
In addition, the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is drawing attention to osteoporosis in men on Oct. 20, this year’s world osteoporosis day. The IOF announced plans to issue a new report entitled, “Osteoporosis in Men” in conjunction with activities being held worldwide.
This article was compiled with information from Toby King, executive director of the U.S Bone and Joint Decade.