Bone and joint decade extended.

the problem of osteoporotic fractures and the challenges of their management. At each stop to refuel, Professor Perren met with colleagues and lectured about these problems and their potential management solutions. Some of the statistics about the magnitude of musculoskeletal problems of people are quite horrendous (1). For example joint diseases account for half of all chronic disease in people 65 years and older, and back pain is the second leading cause of sick leave. Furthermore, 40% of women over 50 will suffer an osteoporotic fracture, and in the developing nations one quarter of the health care budget was spent on trauma related care. Traumatic injury of people is on the rise; motor vehicle accidents, domestic violence, war, political unrest, volcano, earthquake, and tsunami being daily events in our world. Paradoxically, in companion animals inherited musculoskeletal diseases seem to have become more important than traumatic injuries. To my knowledge the Bone and Joint Decade was not officially embraced by the veterinary profession. Notwithstanding, veterinarians maintain a crucial role in research on human musculoskeletal problems, especially when it comes to the use and humane treatment of research animal models. Since one goal of our Journal is to further the comparative aspects of orthopaedics and traumatology, we welcome papers concerned with comparative studies of musculoskeletal disease in all species, including humans. We are planning to publish several such papers in the Journal in forthcoming issues. We hope that you find them to be of interest. Best wishes to all our readers and contributors for the New Year. Sincerely,