Each year, the United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) participates in Bone and Joint Action Week, Oct. 12–20.

The annual global public education program is designed to raise worldwide awareness of prevention, management, and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. Highlights of this year’s event include the following:

World Arthritis Day
The week kicks off on Oct. 12 with World Arthritis Day. The 2015 theme of the USBJI’s Experts in Arthritis education program is “It’s In Your Hands, Take Action! Get Your High 5s Ready.”

Throughout the day, patient advocates and healthcare professionals—including orthopaedic surgeons, rheumatologists, physical therapists, nurses, and occupational therapists—will present current scientific evidence for the treatment and self-management of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile arthritis and answer questions related to current knowledge about arthritis care.

For more information, visit www.worldarthritisday.org

World Spine Day
On World Spine Day, Oct. 16, participating healthcare providers and organizations will provide important information, tips, and tools on how to prevent many common spinal disorders.

For more information, visit www.worldspineday.org

World Trauma Day
Oct. 17, World Trauma Day, recognizes the impact of injuries and violence. Injuries—resulting from traffic collisions, drowning, poisoning, falls, or burns—and violence—from assault, self-inflicted violence, or acts of war—kill more than 5 million people worldwide annually and cause harm to millions more. They account for 9 percent of global mortality and are a threat to health in every country of the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 50 percent of road deaths occurring in developing countries could have been prevented with effective interventions after trauma.

World Pediatric Bone and Joint (PB&J) Day
Developed by the USBJI’s multidisciplinary Pediatric Specialty Group, World PB&J Day (Oct. 19) features educational stories on important bone and joint–related conditions to raise awareness among children, adolescents, and their parents. The 2015 PB&J Day will focus on ACL tears. Previous topics have included obesity, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, kids and vitamin D deficiency, and the adolescent female athlete triad.

World Osteoporosis Day
Oct. 20, World Osteoporosis Day, marks the launch of a year-long campaign dedicated to raising global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. USBJI’s “Fit to a T” public education program was developed in response to the Surgeon General’s first-ever report on bone health and osteoporosis. It is designed to help the public learn more about bone health, as well as the prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis.

The 2015 theme of World Osteoporosis Day is “Serve Up Bone Strength.” For more information, visit www.worldosteoporosisday.org

• Did you know?
  More than half (54 percent) of Americans older than age 18 are affected by musculoskeletal conditions.
• One in three Americans (33 percent) older than age 18 required medical care for a musculoskeletal condition each year from 2009 to 2011, a 19 percent increase from the previous decade.
• Bone and joint conditions are the most common cause of severe long-term pain and physical disability worldwide and affect hundreds of millions of people.
• Currently, musculoskeletal research funding accounts for less than 2 percent of the National Institutes of Health annual budget and continues to decline each year despite the high costs associated with injuries, arthritis, and back pain.

References:

1. United States Bone and Joint Initiative: The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in the United States. Rosemont, IL; 2014. Accessed July 9, 2015.
2. United States Bone and Joint Initiative: The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in the United States. Rosemont, IL; 2014. Accessed July 9, 2015.
3. Woolf AD, Pfleger B: Burden of major musculoskeletal conditions. Bull World Health Organ 2003;81(9):646-656.