United States Bone and Joint Decade Campaign Extended

The United States Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD), a musculoskeletal disease awareness campaign entering its 10th year, has received a mandate to continue its work beyond 2011. Dedicated to improving the prevention of bone and joint disorders and patients’ quality of life, the USBJD has worked to advance and expand musculoskeletal awareness, care, and research by forging new collaborative relationships and building partnerships. It will continue to do so under a new name, the United States Bone and Joint Initiative.

Musculoskeletal conditions affect more US citizens than any other health condition, occurring in nearly 1 in 4 adults, and cost an estimated $849 billion a year, USBJD president Joshua Jacobs, MD, stated in the organization’s winter 2011 newsletter. These conditions have gained public and political priority and are moving up the agenda in national, regional, and global organizations, including the United Nations, World Health Organization, and NIH, he noted.

The USBJD’s accomplishments to date include the following:

•Publishing The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in the United States: Prevalence, Societal and Economic Cost, an overview of the extent and impact of current and future musculoskeletal conditions, in print and online. For more on this publication, see the Box, “Musculoskeletal burden is great and predicted to grow.”

•Starting the Young Investigators Initiative, which has increased the pipeline of clinician-scientists and resulted in more than $60 million in musculoskeletal research funding.

•Conducting the Project 100 program, which has increased formalized instruction in musculoskeletal medicine in medical schools. More than 80% of schools now offer such instruction, up from fewer than 50% in 2002.

•Running public education programs, including Fit to a T (bone health and osteoporosis), PB&J (for adolescents), and Experts in Arthritis, providing more than 300 sessions for more than 13,000 patients and the public.

•Creating the 2009 Global Network Conference for increased musculoskeletal advocacy, awareness, access to care (including appropriate diagnosis of musculoskeletal conditions, early intervention, and treatment), and funding.

For more information, visit the USBJD Web site at http://www.usbjd.org. Or, contact the organization at USBJD, 6300 N River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018; telephone: (847) 384-4010; fax: (847) 823-0536; e-mail: usbjd@usbjd.org.