Women In Government Comments on U. S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Report

    WASHINGTON, DC, June 27, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Women In Government submitted comments to the U. S. Senate Special Committee on Aging for inclusion in their annual report to Congress about the needs of older Americans to bring attention to state initiatives to improve Bone Health.

Included in the comments is Women In Government's Bone Health Toolkit, which brings awareness to bone health and how governments may work to both prevent fractures, falls and their consequences.

"Bone health is essential to everyone," stated Lucy Gettman, Executive Director, "Women in particular are vulnerable to osteoporosis and the risk of fractures and falls."

The toolkit provides facts about osteoporosis, details patients' stories, and offers informational resources. These include sample resolutions and exemplary social media and State programs. For example, the Toolkit highlights the state of Maine, which created the Elderly Low Cost Drug Program for those who are disadvantaged, elderly, or have disabilities. This facilitates this group of people to receive drugs to help treat conditions such as osteoporosis, which is noted in the piece of legislation.

Bone Health relates to osteoporosis, a bodily condition wherein one has weak bones with low bone mass. This makes the person more vulnerable to serious breaks and fractures, affecting their way of life. Osteoporosis is increasingly relevant as its incidence is high in Americans 50 years of age and older. In fact, 1 in 5 men in that age range will experience an osteoporotic fracture; for women aged 50 and older, that number escalates to 1 in 3.

Women In Government Foundation (WIG), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of women state legislators. There are a record number of women state legislators this year (2131 or 28.9% of all state legislators) and 34 of 50 states individually have a record numbers of women legislators. Led by a national Board of Directors consisting of 13 state legislators, WIG provides leadership opportunities, networking, expert forums, and educational resources to address and resolve complex public policy issues.

# # #