NYON, Switzerland, October 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Major Features Include Enhanced Interactivity; New Database-Driven Architecture; Expanded, Latest Information for Patients, the Public, Health Care Professionals and the Media; New Section on Nutrition and Bone Health

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) today introduced an extensive, newly designed website in Hong Kong as part of the global launch of World Osteoporosis Day.

The new website - www.iofbonehealth.org - replaces the previous site - www.osteofound.org -although the old address will continue to link to the new one.

The new website contains some 1,200 pages and is expected to continue building on the popularity of the existing website, which at present registers some 1.6 million hits per month.

"In spite of the success of the current site, it was time for a change," noted IOF Chief Executive Officer Daniel Navid. "Our original website was created in 1998 and obviously much has changed in the amount of information available in the field of osteoporosis, and also in website design and the way people use the internet to obtain information. The new website makes use of the latest technologies to provide targeted and comprehensive information for a variety of users."

Some highlights of the new website include:

Access to national osteoporosis societies worldwide

The IOF website continues to be the only source for contact information and links to the IOF's 173 national osteoporosis member societies in 86 locations, representing some 82% of the world's population.

Nutrition section

This new section is particularly timely since it provides information related to the World Osteoporosis Day 2006 theme "Bone Appetit: The role of nutrition in building and maintaining strong bones". Special features include an overview of nutrition and bone health; a global recipe database featuring bone-friendly recipes provided by the IOF's member societies; a novel calcium calculator which is based on weekly calcium intake; and tables of foods rich in calcium and vitamin D.

Health Professionals

Designed to provide doctors, nurses, and allied health specialists with detailed information on osteoporosis, this section includes special topics such as: bone biology; secondary osteoporosis; diagnosis, treatment and care; osteoporosis in men; the role of exercise in bone health; and other osteoporosis-related issues.

What is Osteoporosis?

This well-illustrated section is now available for both the public and, in more detail, for health professionals. It offers a succinct, easy-to-read overview of osteoporosis, and its prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Advocacy/Policy

Newly revised and expanded, this section will feature news on worldwide policy and lobbying initiatives, key facts and statistics, and national osteoporosis guidelines and other key resource documents, grouped by region of the world.

VIP quotes

In this new section, entertainers, athletes, chefs and osteoporosis advocates will offer personal messages to inspire people with osteoporosis and help raise awareness of issues important to patients and health care providers alike.

Technical innovations

The new website makes extensive use of the most popular web technologies, PHP (programming language) and MySQL (database). It features an object-oriented, extensible architecture that forms a solid foundation for the further development of the website. An innovative approach to content classification and linking was developed to make the wealth of information accessible to different interest groups.

Sponsors

Various sponsors, who are members of IOF Committee of Corporate Advisors, have provided unrestricted educational grants for the development of this website, particularly Schering AG, Amgen, Tetra Pak, MSD, Novartis, and Fonterra Brands.

The new website was developed by Zephir, based in Basel, Switzerland.

Osteoporosis, in which the bones become porous and break easily, is one of the world's most common and debilitating diseases. The result: pain, loss of movement, inability to perform daily chores, and in many cases, death. One out of three women over 50 will experience osteoporotic fractures, as will one out of five men (1, 2, 3). Unfortunately, screening for people at risk is far from being a standard practice. Osteoporosis can, to a certain extent, be prevented, it can be easily diagnosed and effective treatments are available.

1) Melton U, Chrischilles EA, Cooper C et al. How many women have osteoporosis? Journal of Bone Mineral Research, 1992; 7:1005-10

2) Kanis JA et al. Long-term risk of osteoporotic fracture in Malmo. Osteoporosis International, 2000; 11:669-674

3) Melton LJ, et al. Bone density and fracture risk in men. JBMR. 1998; 13:No 12:1915

For more information on osteoporosis and IOF please visit: www.iofbonehealth.org

For media enquiries: Paul Spencer Sochaczewski or Elena Grimaud-Ineichen, International Osteoporosis Foundation - IOF, Tel. +41-22-994-0100 - Fax. +41-22-994-0101, E-mail: iofnews@osteofound.org