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Regional Website of the International Osteoporosis Foundation in the Middle East and North Africa
Osteoporosis is a serious and growing epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa.
To find out more about osteoporosis contact an osteoporosis society in your country:
Click here for contacts to other IOF member societies
LATEST NEWS
IOF Welcomes a New Member into its Family!
The Syrian National Osteoporosis Society (SYNOS) was voted as a full member of IOF at Divonne in November 2005, and gained formal approval by the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs on December 7, 2005.
On January 17, 2006, SYNOS held its first general assembly to elect its board:
Mrs Gemma Adib MD President
Mr. Hikmat Abou Samra MD Vice president
Mr. Hashem Dadouch MD General secretary
Mrs Mouna Bassale Pharmacist Treasurer
Mrs Souheir Khouja Chemist Member
Mrs Ralda Nejmeh Pharmacist Member
Ms. Hind Zarif Secretary Member
World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) 2005
POPS moved it all right!
With this year’s WOD theme ‘Move It or Lose It' very much in mind, the Palestinian
Osteoporosis Society (POPS) carried out a
very full day of sporting activities. Read more
Organized in collaboration with the Bethlehem Arab Soc. for Rehabilitation (BASR) and the Bethlehem Sports Club of the Disabled (BSCD) the opening ceremony was followed by a presentation on ‘Sport and its Importance for People of All Ages, with Special Emphasis on Children with Special Needs’.
The audience included special needs teachers and representatives from various sports clubs, including clubs for the disabled. Firstly, more than 55 children with various types of disability participated in team games. Following this, various other competitors took part in table tennis matches, athletics competitions and wheelchair basketball matches. The day concluded with a dinner invitation for all participants, during which Dr. Elias Saba, Pres. of POPS, gave a lecture on “The Importance of Exercise in the Prevention of Osteoporosis”.
Also, throughout the day, 2,000 fliers and 500 posters were distributed in all parts of the Bethlehem region.
Iranian Society’s ‘Move It or Lose It’
The Iranian Society (EMRC) organized a series of events focusing on exercise for World Osteoporosis Day 2005. Hundreds of children from different areas of Tehran gathered in an auditorium to take part in various activities involving the participation of well-known sporting personalities, who lead the children in group exercises.
Competitions also took place in which prizes of free BMD scans were offered to older members of the winners’ families and entertaining educational kits were sent to schools where children commenced the day with exercises.
 Older family members, including grandparents, were also invited to join in and films and lectures emphasized the importance of continuing exercise past childhood. The One Minute Risk Test was distributed to all participants and exercises were demonstrated by the EMRC team.
Awareness campaigns were also organized to take place at Friday prayers and also in sports shops, where not only were pamphlets distributed, but BMD
and blood tests were carried out for the purpose of studies that the EMRC is undertaking on athletes.
H.E. Mrs. Randa Berri Nominated International Ambassador to the Bone & Joint Decade
H.E. Mrs. Randa Berri was nominated as International
Ambassador to the Bone & Joint Decade (BJD) in a ceremony held on 17th November at the Ain El Tineh Palace, Beirut. Among those attending the event were the Lebanese Minister of Health, Prof. Mohamed Khalifah and Prof. Lars Ladgren, President of the BJD.
Middle East and North Africa Consensus on Osteoporosis
Over the past few years, osteoporosis-related studies around the Middle East and North Africa have time and again stressed the need to set guidelines on osteoporosis that are specific to the region, in view of providing more thorough and precise care to patients.
While these guidelines can contribute towards more tailored care to patients from the MENA region, they could also represent an important tool for national resource allocation and health care planning. Indeed, in Iran alone, a study mentioned in these guidelines reported that
two million people are at the risk of fracture, establishing osteoporosis as one of the chief health problems in the country.
Following the release of three regional consensus guidelines in Europe, North America and Asia, the Middle East and North Africa released this summer its guidelines on osteoporosis. View report (PDF 207 KB)
PAOS 2005 Congress
The Third PAOS Congress took place in Tunis between September 7 and 9, 2005. Presentations covered a full range of topics, including epidemiology, pathophysiology, genetics, diagnosis procedures, male osteoporosis, corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis, management and treatment strategies. Also, a new PAOS committee was elected.
Read more
IOF-METCOP 2006: Announcement
After the success of the first IOF-Middle East Training Course on Osteoporosis, which gathered 150 participants from across the region, the second edition of the IOF-METCOP will take place from November 16 to 19, 2006, at the Grand Hills Village in Lebanon.
For more information, click here
or contact Ms. Sauma at 961 - 3 - 447 039, or at lynnm@cyberia.net.lb
Osteoporosis in Men now available in Arabic
 After its launching in Australia and Italy, the IOF report "Osteoporosis in Men" has just been launched in the Middle East and North Africa, and was published in the regional publication OsteoNews.
This report shows that osteoporosis is a serious concern for men. Around the world an estimated one in five men over the age of fifty will be affected by the disease.
According to Prof. Ego Seeman, IOF Board Member and author of the report, "men who sustain fractures may suffer more severely in terms of the quality and quantity of their lives than when fractures occur in women".
View report (PDF 777 KB)
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