Fracture Liaison Service in Taiwan

Paulo Chih-Hsing Wu, Rong-Sen Yang,
Rong-Sen Yang, MD, PhDDirector and Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University & Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Fragility fractures are common among the patients with osteoporosis and incur many complications. Half of them will sustain a second fracture in their life, i.e., fracture begets fracture and increase medical cost and incur a big challenge. In 2011, Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) strategy was deliberately recommended by International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) after reviewing the evidence of cost-effectiveness of its predecessor program. Such programs are teamwork services by the communication through coordinators with other team members. Since 2014, the number of FLS programs in Taiwan has grown rapidly and cover osteoporosis patients nationwide. As of June 2018, 22 FLS in Taiwan, with 12 accredited on the Map of Best Practice. This monograph invites many experts for their comprehensive contribution to FLS in Taiwan and Asia-Pacific region. All these chapters illustrate Taiwan's achievements and achievements in this area, and their international affirmation. In March 2017 Taiwan Osteoporosis Association (TOA) won the "2017 Best Secondary Fracture Prevention Promotion" WCO-IOFESCEO Florence (i.e., FLS). Such a brilliant achievement confirms the efforts and achievements of the Taiwan and also brings the best gift for the 20th anniversary of the TOA. It also reminds us that efforts will bring results someday. Experts from Taiwan are willing to work with colleagues throughout the AP region to develop an improved FLS network. It is surely the greatest encouragement and will inspire more efforts into the future strategy of promoting FLS in Taiwan, Asia-Pacific region and worldwide.