| November 3, 2005
-- The National Osteoporosis
Foundation Meets with The Duchess of
Cornwall and The Prince of Wales During
Their First Official U.S. Visit
Their Royal Highnesses The Duchess of
Cornwall accompanied by The Prince of
Wales met with the National Osteoporosis
Foundation (NOF) on
Thursday, November 3, 2005 during a
meeting at the National Institutes of
Health. The meeting focused on
increasing awareness of osteoporosis and
bone health
The Duchess serves as president of the
National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) in
the U.K.--a sister organization to NOF.
During the meeting, The Duchess said the
following:
"Ladies
and Gentlemen, As President of the
National Osteoporosis Society, I would
just like to say how delighted my
husband and I are to be with you at the
NIH. today and I would especially like
to thank Dr. Zerhouni and Dr. Katz for
making this visit possible.
I first became involved with
osteoporosis after both my mother and my
grandmother died as a result of this
devastating disease. Then - only eleven
years ago - very little was known in
Britain about osteoporosis; it was
seldom discussed, rarely diagnosed and
usually attributed to old ladies with
so-called “Dowagers Humps!"
Women like my mother and grandmother
were told that it was something that
came with old age, and that there was
very little the medical profession could
do to alleviate the terrible pain they
suffered so stoically.
As you all know, ladies and
gentlemen, the number of people
diagnosed with osteoporosis is still
continuing to rise and the statistics
are horrifying - in Britain every other
woman over 50 is at risk of getting it
and the men don’t get away with it
either, as it now affects one out of
five men over the same age. It actually
costs our National Health Service a
staggering 1.76 billion in bone
fractures alone.
Huge strides are being made both here
in America and in Britain in fighting
osteoporosis – which makes it essential
that the NOS. and the National
Osteoporosis Foundation, with the
support of the doctors and the vital
research teams work together to prevent
future generations worldwide from
suffering the pain and ignominy of
osteoporosis in the future."
Learn about osteoporosis
prevalence in the United States.
Dr. Ethel Siris, NOF
President, greets Their Royal Highnesses
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of
Cornwall
(Left to right) Dr.
Bess Dawson-Hughes, NOF Immediate
Past-President; The Duchess of Cornwall,
President of NOS; Pat Lear, osteoporosis
patient; Dr. Ethel Siris, NOF President;
Hon. Paul Rogers, NOF Founding Chair;
and Linda Johnson, osteoporosis patient
discuss the effects of the disease on a
patient's quality of life.
(Left to right) Dr.
Robert Lindsay, NOF Board Member; His
Royal Highness The Prince of Wales; and
Janet Hubert, Actress and osteoporosis
patient.
(Left to right) Judith Cranford,
Executive Director, NOF; Ethel Siris,
M.D., President, NOF; His Royal Highness
The Prince of Wales; Her Royal Highness
The Duchess of Cornwall; Vice Admiral
Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S.,
U.S. Surgeon General; Elias Zerhouni,
M.D., Director, NIH; John Gallin, M.D.,
Director, NIH Clinical Center.
 The Duchess serves as president of the
National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) in
the U.K.--a sister organization to NOF.
The Duchess addressed the group during
the meeting. Her remarks are above.
(Left to right) Dr.
Ethel Siris, NOF President; Janet
Hubert, Actress and osteoporosis patient; Vice
Admiral Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H.,
F.A.C.S., U.S. Surgeon General; The
Duchess of Cornwall; and The Prince of
Wales discuss the Surgeon General's
report on "Osteoporosis and Bone
Health."
View NOF's press release from the event.
NOF Photo
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