The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) has launched a comprehensive toolkit – the ‘Capture the Fracture^® Partnership – Guidance for Policy Shaping’, comprising a step-by-step policy guide to design and evaluate Post Fracture Care Coordination Programs in hospitals and health systems worldwide.

Osteoporosis is a major public health concern, causing more than 8.9 million debilitating and life-changing fragility fractures each year across the globe, with serious societal and economic consequences. Our rapidly ageing global population is driving a colossal increase in the incidence of fragility fractures, which is in turn, imposing an unprecedented burden on patients, their families, health systems and societies alike.

For the Asia Pacific region, osteoporotic fractures are expected to increase exponentially, not only due to our region’s rapidly aging population, but also to mounting urbanisation, and subsequent increase in sedentary lifestyles.

According to Professor Cyrus Cooper, IOF President and Professor of Musculoskeletal Science at the Universities of Oxford and Southampton, UK, when one fragility fracture occurs, a patient is at imminent risk of sustaining further fractures.

“Only 20 per cent of fragility fracture patients are currently offered screening or treatment for osteoporosis, the underlying disease. Given the immense and growing burden of fragility fractures, it is clear that health care strategies must be put in place to reduce this unacceptable care gap,” said Prof. Cooper.

Fortunately, unlike many other chronic diseases, there is a solution to helping curb fragility fractures, which is tried, tested and ready to implement. Post Fracture Care Coordination Programs, such as Fracture Liaison Services (FLS), are coordinated systems of care that identify, treat and monitor patients presenting with a fragility fracture. Intervention can reduce fractures by up to 50 per cent, deliver significant financial savings, and ultimately, save lives.

The Capture the Fracture^® Partnership (CTFP), is a global program that helps to proactively implement Post-Fracture Care coordination programs in hospitals and healthcare systems, to help prevent further osteoporotic fractures.

This global initiative focuses on the five key pillars of action: Policy, Coalition, Mentorship, Scalable Solutions and Digitals Tools across 17 countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

The key objectives are to:

• Foster the development and implementation of new Post-Fracture Care coordination programs ;
• Double the number and quality of existing Post-Fracture Care coordination programs by the end of 2022; and
• Achieve a 25 per cent reduction in the number of hip and vertebral fractures due to osteoporosis by 2025.

According to Senior Consultant, Department of Endocrinology, Director, Osteoporosis and Bone Metabolism Unit, Singapore General Hospital and APCO Executive Committee Chairperson, Dr Manju Chandran, Singapore, “The Asia Pacific region is expected to bear the brunt of the osteoporotic fracture burden in the coming decades. APCO whose members developed the FRAMEWORK of Minimum Standards of Care for the screening, diagnosis, and management of Osteoporosis in the Asia Pacific region and which is the Asia Pacific’s largest and sole independent consortium of osteoporosis experts welcomes IOF’s comprehensive CTF® Partnership tool kit. The tool kit will be of invaluable assistance to Post Fracture Care services anywhere in the world to estimate in real time how well they are performing compared to standards of care. It will definitely serve as an aspirational benchmark for FLSs worldwide.”

To learn more about the IOF’s ‘Capture the Fracture^® (CTF) Partnership – Guidance for Policy Shaping’, head to the Capture the Fracture® website.