Australia was delighted to host the 2007 Bone and Joint Decade World Network Conference and Patient Advocacy Seminar on the magnificent Gold Coast, Queensland, from the 11 – 14 October 2007. Our annual forum brought together more than 100 BJD Patient Advocacy Leaders and National Action Network Coordinators from around the globe for a unique, multifaceted programme.
Patient involvement has been a key factor Decade’s success since its inauguration and this is the fourth year the BJD, thanks to the generous involvement of Novartis, was able to organise a two-day Patient Advocacy Seminar preceding the World Network Conference. The value of this unique programme is vast, with 40 BJD Patient Advocates from countries around the world having participated in the expert-led training sessions. The topic of this year's programme was Basic Health Economics: Understanding and Using the Data and we were very pleased to have Mr Mick Hoare, Director of the Asthma and Arthrtitis division of the Australian Dept of Health & Aging, to speak to us about the National Health Priority, and the expertise of Weber Shandwick, the world’s largest PR agency, donating its time to lead practical training modules for the advocates.
 The World Network Conference brought together network leaders from nearly 40 countries and featured a fusion of interactive presentations on the Significance of Health Economy Data, with policy discussions including Prof Alan Lopez, Head of the School of Population Health at the University of Queensland, and the head author of The WHO Publication The Burden of Disease, speaking about the Burden of Musculoskeletal Disease. In addition there was a multidisciplinary session focusing on Spine with with talks by international thought-leaders, which attracted quite some media attention. Mr Ben Horgan, Australian Network Chairman and Patient Advocacy Leader, and Prof Peter Brooks, BJD International Steering Committee Member and Conference Programme Chairman, led the meeting.
The Gold Coast was also host to some of Australasia’s leading physicians. The Australian Orthopaedic Association held its annual scientific meeting and a combined session with the BJD, The Alf Nachemson Symposium on Evidence in Back Pain, featured presentations from some of the world’s chief thought-leaders in this field.
During the conference, delegates also had the opportunity to participate in the World Arthritis Day Celebration in collaboration with the Gold Coast City Council and the Arthritis Foundation by joining a public walk through the Gold Coast peninsula to raise awareness of the importance of Keeping Moving. The invigorating walk through the scenic park concluded with an outdoor concert featuring the Australian Rock-n-Roll icon Normie Rowe.
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