MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday September 6 2012
Global Bone & Joint Organisation applauds “Fit for Work” Report
A report released yesterday on the crippling burden of musculo-skeletal disease in New Zealand and its financial impact
particularly in the workplace has been applauded by the global joint health alliance, the Decade of Bone and Joint (
BJD,) which has been working to raise public awareness of this issue since 2000.
Commenting on ‘’Fit for Work’’, an independent report on the impact of musculo-skeletal conditions in the New Zealand
workforce, the New Zealand National Coordinator of the New Zealand BJD, Mr. Russell Tregonning, said musculoskeletal
disorders were the leading cause of disability both in New Zealand and around the world, affecting one in four adults
and accounting for 25% of the total cost of illness.
The report highlights the fact that the direct costs of work related injuries and disease (largely made up of
musculoskeletal conditions) to the New Zealand economy was between 4 and 8 percent of GDP in 2002.
He said hundreds of million people worldwide suffer from joint diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis,
and this figure will increase exponentially due to the predicted doubling of the population of people aged over 50 by
the year 2020.
The BJD is a global initiative that encompasses diseases associated with muscoloskeletal disorders such as joint
diseases, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, low back pain, spinal disorders, severe trauma to the
extremities, crippling diseases and deformities in children. Its mission is to advance understanding of musculoskeletal
disorders worldwide through research and to improve the quality of life for those affected by these disorders.
-Ends-