Iranian J Publ Health, 2008, A supplementary issue on Osteoporosis and Bone Turnover, No.1, pp.1-6 1 Iranian Osteoporosis Research Network: Background, Mission and Its Role in Osteoporosis Management HR Aghaei Meybodi 1 , R Heshmat 1 , Z Maasoumi 1 , A Soltani 1 , A Hossein-nezhad 1 , AA Keshtkar 2 , A Bahrami 3 , R Rajabian 4 , I Nabipour 5 , GH Omrani 6 , M Pajouhi 1 , *B Larijani 1 1 Endocrinology & Metabolism Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran 3 Dept. of Internal medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 4 Dept. of Internal medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 5 Dept. of Internal medicine, Boushehr University of Medical Sciences, Boushehr, Iran 6 Dept. of Internal medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Abstract Because of increase in elderly population, osteoporosis appears to become as a major public health issue in developing countries as in Iran. In order to obtain a clearer picture of osteoporosis in Iran, studies on different aspect of osteoporosis especially national projects about epidemiology and burden of disease, are required. Coordinating research programs is pos- sible only by establishing a research network, so the national osteoporosis research network was suggested by Endocrinol- ogy and Metabolism Research of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Iranian Osteoporosis Research Network (IORN) was established in 2002 by approval of Deputy for Research and the National Advisory Committee on Non-communicable Diseases of Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. At first, five centers of Medical Sciences Universities and Research Centers in addition to the EMRC, participated in this project. Gradually more centers joined to the network and the numbers of IORN members are now 41 persons from 21 universities and research centers. IORN has had several activi- ties: 1) Research projects, from among them are Iranian Multi-center Osteoporosis Study (IMOS) and Hip Fracture Registry Project (HFRP) in Iran 2) Educational activities with the aim of preventing osteoporosis and its related fractures 3) Establishment of osteoporosis clinic. In summery osteoporosis is an important public health issue especially in developing countries be- cause of increasing in elderly population. Close relationship between academic and research centers through the IORN mem- bership provided possibility of designing and applying national research projects on epidemiology and burden of osteoporosis. Keywords: Public health, Osteoporosis, Fracture, National Network, Iran Introduction Osteoporosis is "a skeletal disorder character- ized by compromised bone strength predisposing to an increase risk of fracture" (1). It is a com- mon condition, especially among elderly women, and is a major risk factor for fractures, which occur most commonly at wrist, spine and hip. It is also cause people to become bedridden with serious complications. Worldwide approximately 200 million women have osteoporosis (2). It caused about 9 million fractures in the year 2000 (3), and it is expected to increase this nu- mber by more than three-fold over the next 50 yr as a result of the aging population (4). It has been estimated that more than 840 mil- lion people over the age of 60 will live in de- veloping countries by the year 2025 represent- ing 70% of all older people worldwide (5). Be- cause of increase in elderly population, osteopo- rosis appears to become as a major public health issue in developing countries as in Iran. There is paucity of epidemiological data on osteopo- rosis in developing countries. There are few stud- ies on prevalence and incidence of osteoporosis in these populations. Bone density and fracture risk is varies between races, Therefore popula- tion specific normative data for bone density are required (6). Osteoporosis is associated with high morbidity and mortality especially because of its expres- sion in age related fractures. The mortality rate of the hip and spine fractures is about 20 % (7). *Corresponding author: Tel: +98 21 88220037-8, Fax: +98 21 882220054, E-mail: emrc@tums.ac.ir Iranian J Publ Health, 2008, A supplementary issue on Osteoporosis and Bone Turnover, No.1, pp.1-6