A call to action: developing and implementing a national action plan to improve bone health

Abstract

Over the past 40 years, there have been important advances in our understanding of bone health and new methods to diagnose, prevent, and treat osteoporosis and other bone disorders. Our recognition that these advances have not been adequately disseminated and more importantly have not been implemented was a major impetus for the Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis in 2004 [1]. This report outlined the key facts: Much of our current lifestyle is not conducive to bone health, there is an increasing risk of fragility fractures as our population ages, and this will have an enormous toll not only in terms of medical costs but also in morbidity and mortality. Moreover, both women and men of all races and ethnic groups are affected. Although osteoporosis and agerelated skeletal fragility have been the most extensively studied aspects of bone disease, studies on less common or even rare bone disorders have led to major advances in our understanding of bone health and disease. Although there is a great deal more to be learned through basic and clinical research, we do know enough now to reverse or at least slow this trend. The problem has been that since the Surgeon General’s Report was released in 2004, efforts to promote awareness, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of osteoporosis and other metabolic bone disorders have been sporadic. It became clear that a coordinated effort among health care professionals, federal, state, and local government agencies, voluntary organizations, academics, communities, and the multiple components of the health care industry would be required to achieve a meaningful change. In 2008, the National Coalition for Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases (“The Bone Coalition”)—which includes the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, National Osteoporosis Foundation, Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, and The Paget Foundation— convened a 2-day summit to address this gap and develop All authors belong to the Planning Committee of the Summit for a National Action Plan for Bone Health.