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European and national leaders, health and work experts, call forNational Action Plans to address muscle and joint pain in Europe

Muscle and joint pain costs workers and economies up to 240 billion a year, but fewcountries have plans or infrastructures to keep people in work

Lech Walesa, former President of Poland, is appointed global Fit for Work AmbassadorWe must fight internationally to improve the lives of those living and working with pain. But

only coordinated action at national level will keep workers well enough to participate fully insociety, including being able to stay in jobs they have worked hard to get, he says to Conference.

Brussels, 19 October 2011 Today, politicians, patients and health and work experts of the Fit forWork Europe Coalition added their voices to national advocates from across Europe for theircountries to take bold steps to reduce the staggering 240 billion1 economic burden of chronicmusculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) to European society.

Attending the 3rd Annual Fit for Work Europe Conference, the honourable Lech Walesa, formerPresident of Poland, and newly appointed global Fit for Work Ambassador said, One hundred millionEuropeans suffer from chronic musculoskeletal pain over 40 million of whom are workers with upto 40% having to give up work due to their condition. This is unacceptable in the 21st century, whensimple things such as earlier intervention and coordinated care at national level can make such adifference to people living with MSDs.

The Fit for Work Europe Coalition conference also highlighted the latest research showing thegrowing impact of MSDs in Europes ageing population for example, nearly half (49%) of allabsences from work and 60% of permanent work incapacity in the European Union is caused byMSDs, and a over a quarter of the working population report work-related back pain. 2,3 Importantnational statistics on current prevalence and impact of MSDs were reported to the Conference andcan be seen in detail online.

Effective policy and practice change at national level will only be the result of a unified evidence-based approach to the management of MSDs, delegates heard. Specifically, national MSD actionplans must:

Make MSDs a national public health priority, along with other serious chronic conditions Allocate adequate funding for early intervention and treatment of MSDs

Establish staying in work as a valid clinical measure of successful managemImaxent of MSDs Advocate including work productivity (i.e., societal costs) in health economic/health technology

assessmentsToday, we know the European Union, via its institutional support for the activities of Fit for WorkEurope, acknowledges the impact of MSDs on our economies and the need for actions to be taken.Now, we must focus our efforts on supporting national governments, helping them to make the casefor making MSDs and the health of the working population a priority in their health systems, toimprove outcomes in health and work, said Mrs Antonia Parvanova, the MEP host of the summitin Brussels, and a co-president of the Coalition. Only then will we effectively support those citizensliving with chronic pain.

The European Parliament has also taken note of the efforts of Fit for Work Europe. Commenting onthe Coalitions work to date and the third annual Conference, President of the European

1The Fit for Work research found that MSDs cost the EU from 0.5%-2% of GDP annually. EU27 GDP in 2007 was 12.3

trillion. A loss of 2% is approximately 240bn. Figures calculated from Europe in Figures Eurostat yearbook 2009,published 18 Sept 2009.2Fit for Work? Musculoskeletal Disorders in the European Workforce. The Work Foundation. Brussels, 30 Sept 2009.

3Maximising Employment and Social Inclusion, a Fit for Work Europe Data Briefing Paper, 19 Oct 2011

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Parliament,Jerzy Buzek said, Partnerships such as Fit for Work Europe are excellent examples ofhow the EU and Member States may work together to achieve ambitious goals. EU Institutions,specifically, those of us in the European Parliament support the efforts of Fit for Work to ensure everyMember States has the evidence and ultimately the resources to make MSDs a health priority.

The Fit for Work Coalition enjoys the patronage of:

For more information, visit www.fitforworkeurope.eu or contact Tara Farrell at the Fit for WorkSecretariaton +32 (0)2 894 9027 or tfarrell@webershandwick.com .

- ENDS -Notes to editors

About Musculoskeletal DisordersMusculoskeletal disorders is an umbrella term covering over 200 conditions that affect the muscles, joints,tendons, ligaments, peripheral nerves and supporting blood vessels, causing pain and functional impairment tosufferers (Punnett et al, 2004)

About Fit for Work EuropeFit for Work Europe works to promote a multi-stakeholder dialogue on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) todrive clinical practice and health and work policy that will improve the quality of working life for people withMSDs. Fit for Work is a partnership of organizations and individuals, and enjoys the patronage of The Work

Foundation, the UNs Bone and Joint Decade, the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and RANDEurope, and the support of a broad range of stakeholders, including the European Agency for Social Inclusion,the European Federation of Nurses Associations, Association Internationale de la Mutualit, Enterprise forHealth, Arthritis Ireland, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UniEuropa and more joining everymonth. The Fit for Work Europe Coalition is supported by an ongoing grant from Abbott - a founding partner -and a supporting grant from GE Healthcare.

About the Fit for Work Europe CoalitionThe Fit for Work Coalition is a unique coming together of patients, physicians, policy makers and societyrepresentatives, all of whom believe in the importance of early detection, prevention and management of MSDsin the workplace. Their vision is to shift MSDs from disabling conditions to manageable conditions, ensuring thatmore European citizens stay in work, and help improve the sustainability of Europe's health and social systems.Specifically the Coalition aims to:

Provide active leadership in making MSDs a health and work priority at EU and national level Set the working activities to support clinical, economic and policy projects in support of the FfW

objectives

Continually provide robust evidence base to support Fit for Work vision, of early intervention withappropriate treatment

Share best practices in national settings and adapt successful initiatives for implementation at nationallevel, with the goal of creating national plans for MSDs in every country

Fit for Work reports and position papers have been produced independently by founder organisation The WorkFoundation, with full editorial control resting with them alone. For information and the opportunity tocomment/blog/share your experience on making Europe Fit for Work, go towww.fitforworkeurope.euand followus on Twitter (@FfWEurope)

For press information please contact Tara Farrell at the Fit for Work Secretariaton +32 (0)2 894 9027 ortfarrell@webershandwick.com .