It is costing the State €412 million to treat all the falls and fractures which occur in patients with osteoporosis each year, new research has found.
The cost was calculated by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) and includes not just hospital costs, but the overall cost to society of caring for these patients.
Dr Melissa Canny, a specialist in public health medicine with the HSE who is now involved in the development of a strategy for the prevention of falls and fractures in the State's ageing population, said the costings in the NUIG study were set to rise rapidly in the coming years, as the percentage of older people in the State that are living longer increases.
She said these costs could exceed €533 million annually by 2010.
The NUIG study was commissioned by those devising the new strategy so as to inform its content. Work on the strategy began last year and is ongoing.
It is expected that the study will be completed next year and it is being developed jointly by the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Department of Health and the National Council for Ageing and Older People (NCAOP).
Dr Canny said that more than 280,000 people over the age of 50 in the State suffer from osteoporosis.
The bone disease affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50. She pointed out that an examination of hospital data showed almost 7,000 patients with fragility fractures were admitted in 2004.
More than 3,000 of these injuries were hip fractures.
But Dr Canny said that most people who have fractures are never assessed for osteoporosis and this has to be addressed.
Furthermore, she said that while there are 61 dexa scanners, which measure bone density and therefore, the early stages of osteoporosis in the Republic, only 16 per cent of them are free to all patients.
"A dexa scan should be as available as a chest X-ray," she said.
She also said that there should be more health promotion for young people on how to avoid developing osteoporosis.
She said that young people were getting conflicting messages about cutting out dairy products from their diet.
But diet up to the age of 35, as well as exercise and sunlight, were important factors in avoiding the condition, she said.
Dr Canny concluded that osteoporosis and fractures should not be accepted as a normal part of ageing.
"Osteoporosis is an important, preventable condition and its prevalence is set to increase. Promotion of bone health from birth is an important aspect of any strategy to address osteoporosis.
"There is a need to raise awareness of the condition amongst the public and health professionals," Dr Canny added.