N.Y. Public Health Law § 2705: Legislative findings and declarations

§ 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.