Legislation
SECTION 2705
Legislative findings and declarations
Public Health (PBH) CHAPTER 45, ARTICLE 27-A
§ 2705. Legislative findings and declarations. The legislature hereby
finds and declares that osteoporosis is a public health problem that
poses a threat to the health and quality of life to as many as
twenty-four million Americans; and that it may ultimately affect as many
as half of all women in the United States over the age of forty-five and
an increasing number of men; and costs the nation ten billion dollars a
year in hospitalization and treatment for resulting injuries, including
chronic disability, pain, and the need for long term care.
The legislature further finds and declares that over one million
fractures a year result from osteoporosis and that the pain, discomfort,
immobility and social isolation that may result from fractures affect
quality of life, threaten people's ability to live independently and
costs millions annually in nursing home and assistive care.
The legislature further finds and declares that a plan should be
established to insure the availability of comprehensive educational
services in communities, and that such services include awareness of the
disease, its rate of incidence, risk factors, facts about its
progression, and implications during pregnancy, the peri-menopausal and
post-menopausal years, and in later life; education about the prevention
of osteoporosis including nutrition, positive health habits and
exercise, and their benefits from an early age; education regarding the
availability and significance of diagnostic screening as well as
predisposing factors including genetic disposition and interventions for
those who already have bone mass loss or those who may be at high risk
of bone mass loss; education about available and experimental treatments
and the benefits, risks, and side effects of each.
The legislature hereby finds and declares that educating the public
about this potentially devastating disease is of paramount importance
and that educating the public throughout the state is in every respect
in the public interest and to the benefit of all persons in this state.
finds and declares that osteoporosis is a public health problem that
poses a threat to the health and quality of life to as many as
twenty-four million Americans; and that it may ultimately affect as many
as half of all women in the United States over the age of forty-five and
an increasing number of men; and costs the nation ten billion dollars a
year in hospitalization and treatment for resulting injuries, including
chronic disability, pain, and the need for long term care.
The legislature further finds and declares that over one million
fractures a year result from osteoporosis and that the pain, discomfort,
immobility and social isolation that may result from fractures affect
quality of life, threaten people's ability to live independently and
costs millions annually in nursing home and assistive care.
The legislature further finds and declares that a plan should be
established to insure the availability of comprehensive educational
services in communities, and that such services include awareness of the
disease, its rate of incidence, risk factors, facts about its
progression, and implications during pregnancy, the peri-menopausal and
post-menopausal years, and in later life; education about the prevention
of osteoporosis including nutrition, positive health habits and
exercise, and their benefits from an early age; education regarding the
availability and significance of diagnostic screening as well as
predisposing factors including genetic disposition and interventions for
those who already have bone mass loss or those who may be at high risk
of bone mass loss; education about available and experimental treatments
and the benefits, risks, and side effects of each.
The legislature hereby finds and declares that educating the public
about this potentially devastating disease is of paramount importance
and that educating the public throughout the state is in every respect
in the public interest and to the benefit of all persons in this state.