EMBARGOED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022

APCO Scientific Summit in Singapore

Leading bone experts from the Asia Pacific will convene in Singapore tomorrow – December 10, 2022 – for the Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) Scientific Summit, to further their vision of reducing the burden of osteoporosis and fragility fractures for 2023 and beyond, in the world’s most populous and fastest ageing region.¹

Marking APCO’s first ‘physical’ Summit since the organisation’s launch in May 2019, the APCO members, representing 19 Asia Pacific countries and regions, will hear from a host of eminent speakers, including:

• Guest of Honour, Minister for Health, Mr Ong Ye Kung, Singapore;
• APCO Executive Committee Chairperson, Senior Consultant, Department of Endocrinology, and Director, Osteoporosis & Bone Metabolism Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Professor Manju Chandran, Singapore;
• Chief Executive Officer, International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), and APCO Executive Committee member, Dr Philippe Halbout, Switzerland;
• Chairman and Head of Endocrinology, Diabetes Division, MAX Healthcare, and APCO member, Professor Ambrish Mithal, India; and
• Vice-President, JAPAC, Regional Medical Head, and Global Lead, Access to Medicines, Amgen,
  Professor Victoria Elegant, Hong Kong.

Osteoporosis – the most common metabolic bone disease – is characterised by porous and brittle bones, whose density and quality are poor, resulting in structural skeletal deterioration.¹ The disease is greatly under-diagnosed, and under-treated in Asia, even among those at highest risk who have already fractured.³ The Asia Pacific is home to 4.5 billion people and vastly different healthcare systems.⁴ Over the next two decades, a staggering 319 million people aged 50+ from the Asia Pacific are projected to be at high risk of osteoporotic fracture.⁵ Moreover, the number of hip fractures are projected to more than double in Asia, from 1.13 million in 2018, to 2.54 million in 2050.⁵

To learn APCO’s plans for multi-sector, healthcare professional engagement and cooperation to stem the looming bone health crisis in the Asia Pacific region, commencing next year, and beyond, attend the Scientific Summit, and/or tee up an in-person, or virtual interview, with a spokesperson/s listed below.

References

1. International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). Capture the fracture. [Oct, 2021]; Available from: https://www.capturethefracture.org/about.
2. Chandran M, et al., Development of the Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) Framework: clinical standards of care for the screening, diagnosis, and management of osteoporosis in the Asia-Pacific region. Osteoporos Int., 2021. 32(7): p. 1249-1275.
3. International Osteoporosis Foundation. Key statistics for Asia. [cited October 2022]; Available from: https://www.osteoporosis.foundation/facts-statistics/key-statistic-for-asia.
4. Odén, A., et al., Burden of high fracture probability worldwide: secular increases 2010-2040. Osteoporos Int, 2015.26(9): p. 2243-8.
5. Cheung, C.-L., et al., An updated hip fracture projection in Asia: The Asian Federation of Osteoporosis Societies study. Osteoporosis and sarcopenia, 2018. 4(1): 16-21.