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INFOLETTER 17June 2001
Dear Bone and Joint Decade supporting organisation and friend,
On behalf of the BJD Steering Committee I am pleased to report to you of the latest achievements in regard to the initiative.
Lars Lidgren, Chairman of the Steering Committee
Governmental Support Now Includes 34 NationsIndia: Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed the declaration of support on May 1, 2001. More info: Professor T.K. Shanmugasundaram, Chairman NAN-India e-mail: tks_s@hotmail.com.
Slovak Republic: The Minister of Health of Slovak Republic has endorsed in May, 2001 bringing the total number of governments supporting the Bone and Joint Decade to thirty-four. Please contact Frantisek Makai, BJD Coordinator, e-mail ortopkl@internet.sk.
Congratulations!
National Action Network Activities
Australia: The Bone and Joint Decade was launched in Australia with a Scientific Meeting attended by over 250 professionals and patients followed by a dinner with nearly 150.
The Australian Minister of Health and Aged Care, Dr Michael Wooldridge, launched the Decade pledging Australian Government support for its activities. Health professionals joined patients during the Scientific Meeting to talk about the scientific and personal issues involved in musculoskeletal diseases. Sir Gustav Nossal gave the after dinner speech and stressed the enormous opportunities for patients with rheumatic diseases to participate in their own management. He also outlined the great advances that would occur in rheumatology/orthopaedics as a consequence of biotechnology and the human genome project. For more info please contact Professor Peter Brooks, BJD-coordinator, e-mail: p.brooks@mailbox.uq.edu.au.
Japan: Prof. Hiroshi Yamamoto, BJD-ISC member has been appointed as the president of Japanese Orthopaedic Association (2001-2003). With a membership of over 20,000, JOA regulates a lot of related functions and organizations. He proposed that every participating organization develop BJD campaign meetings for public awareness, use the logo, and plan attractive programs for BJD Action Week coming in October 12-20.
At the Adelaide Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association Meeting last April he was appointed vice-president of APOA. He will try to stimulate the development of the BJD campaign in the Asia-Pacific area. For more information, e-mail: yhiroshi@med.kochi-ms.ac.jp.
Hungary: The Hungarian NAN organised its first conference at the spa-city of Gyula, Eastern Hungary, April 5-7.
Dr Géza Bálint, the national coordinator summarised the work during the last year. The delegates set up further goals for the Decade in Hungary and worked out an action program. The Ministry of Health of Hungary worked out a 10 years health program for the country. As the aim of Bone and Joint Decade is improving health-related quality of life, this is the priority of the program. For more information please contact Géza Bálint, e-mail: balintg@mail.datanet.hu.
Germany: The national coordinator, Wolfhart Puhl, announced that the German NAN has achieved two major grants from the Ministry of Health. The first one is intended to prepare an official report for the Robert-Koch-Institut and the Ministry of Health on incidence, prevalence and health economy in musculoskeletal disorders. The second grant is to hold a WHO-cosponsored consensus meeting on primary, secondary and tertiary prevention in osteoporosis in December 2001.
Netherlands: At a mini-symposium on May 10,2001, the Dutch Steering Committee presented the Dutch action plan to the Dutch Ministry of Health and the members of the Network.
New Zealand: An impressive newsletter has been produced and will be published 3 times/year.
Sweden: A Bone & Joint Decade symposium was held at the Swedish Orthopaedic Association annual meeting in Norrköping on May 29, 2001. The symposium comprised of presentations regarding the Bone & Joint Decade international campaign, osteoporosis, spinal disorders, hip joint replacements, rheumatic joint diseases, the importance of physical activities in health care as well as an outlook into the future of orthopaedics. Presenters represented orthopaedics, rheumatology, physiotherapy as well as patient organisations. The symposium, titled "Life and Movement", was coordinated by Björn Rydevik, MD, chairman of the Swedish NAN. More than 200 people including representatives from newspapers and radio stations attended the symposium.
International MeetingsBrazil: The next orthopaedic meeting and the largest one in Latin America will be: XVI ORTRA INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS - 2001 July 12 - 14 - Rio de Janeiro - The meeting will be attended by around 2,000 professionals and supported by Brazilian Orthopaedics and Traumatology Society - Rio de Janeiro (SBOT/RJ) and BJD will be highlightened.
EULAR 2001 - Annual European Congress of Rheumatology - 13-16 June 2001 - Prague: BJD-ISC members Prof. Mieke Hazes (Netherlands), Prof. Liana Euller-Ziegler (France) and Prof. Anthony Woolf (United Kingdom) provided presentations at the Congress that attracted over 8,200 participants worldwide. Prof. Euller-Ziegler and Prof. Woolf were distinguished as Honorary Members at the opening ceremony. Amye L Leong, MBA, Spokesperson and Director of Strategic Relations, BJD, also made a presentation and met with Patients with Rheumatism/Arthritis in Europe (PARE) to develop specific collaborative actions.
United Nation Meeting: The UN has agreed to co-sponsor, along with the WHO, World Bank and BJD an international meeting at the UN entitled "The Global Road Traffic Injury Epidemic". On June 12 Prof. Bruce D Browner (USA), BJD-ISC member, Dr Karsten Dreinhöfer, Director of Development, Dr James P Waddell, National Coordinator in Canada and Ben Eijbergen, Director of the World Bank met with Dr. Odile Frank, Director of Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA) and her UN staff to begin the planning process. The international meeting will be designed to bring together all stakeholders to develop a coordinated action plan to combat global road traffic injuries. For more information please contact, Prof Bruce Browner, e-mail: browner@nso.uhc.edu
Coming eventsSICOT 2001 August 30 - September 1 in Paris
The new Internet Portal for all SICOT members, cosponsored by the Bone and Joint Decade and Pharmacia will be launched during the congress. Website address: www.sicot.org
ILAR 2001 Congress in Edmonton, Canada on August 26 - 31
A 2 hour BJD symposium and a 1 day pre-meeting on medical education with participants from orthopedics, rehabilitation and rheumatology are planned. Please contact Anthony Woolf for more information, woolfa@dialin.netWebsite address: www.ilar.org
BJD Action Week October 12 - 20, 2001A global media release will be sent out to highlight activities conducted around the world during Action Week 2001. Action Week is designed to call global attention to your organisation's awareness, education and advocacy activities conducted during this targeted week. To be included in this media release, please send your campaign materials to the BJD Lund, Sweden office not later than September 1, 2001. Please find the enclosed document about the Action Week.
NAN meeting on October 20 - 21, 2001 in New York CityThe Annual Bone and Joint Decade Network Meeting will take place at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC. The national coordinator and a patient representative of each NAN are invited to join. A major grant has been given by Merck for the local arrangements of this meeting.
Standing Tall Concert in the Lincoln Centre on October 22As described in Infoletter 16, the Bone and Joint Decade will be involved with a live concert at Lincoln Centre with world-famous artists. A video, documentary, CD and TV show are also part of the Standing Tall project. Please go and listen to the concert! More information will follow.
The Portal projectThe Project is moving forward in Europe and South America. The English version will be launched in July and in other major languages in September through November. The Portal will be used by participating professional societies within the musculoskeletal area in Europe to provide web-based communication among and between societies, its members, patients of its members and the Bone and Joint Decade.
Pharmacia, Portal Project co-sponsor, has engaged IBM for the design and development of the technology, as well as serve as host to ensure compliance with EU principles concerning privacy and security of data generated over the web.
During the EFORT meeting, the board of EFORT announced their participation and the 35 societies in Europe approved the Portal in their general assembly.
The BJD WebsiteOur redesigned website is continuously updated with new material and the BJD office encourages you to visit the website. Please send in information on activities and events to the BJD Secretariat, bjd@ort.lu.seand we will put it on the web.
This week's message from ISC membersAs from May 15 there has been a short message on a professional topic from an ISC member every week.
Society Contact updateThe BJD Secretariat has received many Society update forms. Those not having sent in this form, please do so. All contact addresses (especially e-mail addresses) are important to make it possible for us to communicate and keep you updated about important BJD information. Please send it to bjd@ort.lu.se.
The BJD flyerIf you would like to have hard copies, please send your name and full address to bjd@ort.lu.se and we will send you some. Please allow 6 weeks for delivery. Please use the flyer for distribution to potential BJD interested parties in your country, and at regional, national and international meetings.
The MapBJD is constantly updating a world map portraying BJD supporting countries and networks.
The Bone and Joint Decade SecretariatIf you have any questions or need any assistance please feel free to contact our secretary in Lund, Agneta Jonsson, bjd@ort.lu.se.
Next InfoletterWill be sent out on August 29, for information to be included, please submit before August 15.
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