Slovenian Doctors Attended the Bone and Joint Global Network Conference in Washington

Ambassador Kirn with participants from Celje Hospital.

WASHINGTON, October 23 - Dr. Radko Komadina, Dr. Duša Hlade Zore and Dr. Samo Fokter from the Celje Hospital participated in the 2009 Bone and Joint Global Network Conference held in Washington, DC, between , October 21 and 24. Slovenian Ambassador Roman Kirn invited the three distinguished Slovenian specialists to visit the Embassy and to attend the Global Health Forum, which was then taking place at the Embassy.

The conference, hosted by the USBJD, brought together the official Bone and Joint Decade National Action Network (NAN) representatives from 56 countries, members of the administration, government policymakers, health care providers, patients, and patient advocates. The Global Network Conference was an education and strategy planning meeting, which stressed the significant burden of disease posed by musculoskeletal conditions and the reasons why raising awareness and engaging in advocacy are important means of advancing prevention and treatment.

The Bone and Joint Decade is an international collaborative movement sanctioned by the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for people with musculoskeletal conditions and to advance the understanding, prevention and treatment of these conditions. Musculoskeletal conditions include back pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, traumatic injuries, and childhood conditions. Curently, 63 national governments, including Slovenian, and more than 750 patient advocacy and health professional organizations endorse the efforts of the BJDs, which have formed National Action Networks (NAN) like the USBJD.