Quicklinks

It was right at the start of the new millennium that a scientific congress organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) took place in Geneva on “The Burden of Musculoskeletal Conditions”. This meeting also marked the beginning of the “Bone and Joint Decade” (BJD; see Box 2), whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people affected by musculoskeletal disorders worldwide. Most importantly, during that congress Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), welcomed and strongly supported this collaborative initiative facilitated by the World Bank and the UN. He stated: “Joint diseases, back pain, osteoporosis and limb trauma due to accidents and armed conflict have an enormous impact on the individual, on society and on health care and social systems ... there are effective ways to prevent or treat these disabling conditions. But we must act on them now ... the UN ... welcomes and supports this collaborative initiative.”

Annan, K., 1999. The Secretary-General message to launch The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 for the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. New York, United Nations Headquarters, Nov. 30,1999.
Official letter of support by Kofi Annan

World Health Organization, 2003. “The Burden of Musculoskeletal Conditions at the Start of the New Millennium” is the result of three years of work by an international scientific group of experts. It was undertaken as a collaboration between the WHO and the Bone and Joint Decade. It is published in the WHO Technical Report Series.
Electronic version of the report