Brussels, 29/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - European and national politicians and health and work experts will join forces in Brussels on Thursday 30 September to launch an international alliance, the Fit for Work Europe Coalition, on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) which cost European economies as much as €240 billion per year. In a press release, the alliance calls for European action and national plans to be put in place to reduce this staggering economic burden. Of the 100 million people in Europe suffering from chronic musculoskeletal disorders, 40 million are workers, with 40% of these being forced to give up work due to their condition.
The formation of the Fit for Work Europe Coalition is a response to ground-breaking pan-European research from The Work Foundation published in Brussels exactly a year ago, showing that MSDs account for 49% of all absences from work and 60% of permanent work incapacity in the European Union. Prevention, early detection and appropriate intervention, and interdisciplinary management of MSDs would reduce the burden, but would require the support of EU and national policies.
The Fit for Work Europe Coalition is calling specifically for: (1) in 2010 - a commitment from EU health ministers (the EU Health Council) to highlight the value of early intervention in the planned European Health Council conclusions on chronic conditions, scheduled for adoption in December during the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers; (2) in 2011 - a Council recommendation on MSDs to encourage the development of specific national action plans on musculoskeletal disorders; (3) in 2012 - a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos devoted to the economic case for addressing MSDs and a resolution calling for national strategies for addressing MSDs at the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organisation. Further information can be found at: http://www.fitforworkeurope.eu (G.B./transl.rt)