Falls are the most common cause of injury in older people. A fall can happen anywhere and have serious consequences – not just for the older adult, but also for friends, whānau, and family caring for them. Falling over is not an inevitable part of the ageing process, and many falls are preventable.

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New Zealand’s 22 Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) teams deliver world-class secondary fracture prevention for people aged 50 and older, covering 98.9% of the country. Fragility fractures account for 190,000 hospital bed days annually, and behind every statistic is a person and their whānau facing pain, loss of independence, and fear of further injury.

With the population aging rapidly, this work has never been more urgent.

Central to this work is the ANZFFR, a Registry that supports FLS teams in day-to-day patient management, enables benchmarking and quality improvement, and tracks whether patients go on to have further fractures. Fifteen evidence-based KPIs give teams a clear, consistent picture of care quality. In November 2025, the Registry surpassed 50,000 patient journeys since inception, representing nearly one in 100 New Zealanders.

Of the 16,012 New Zealanders who experienced a fragility fracture between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025:

• 80% had a bone health and falls risk assessment within 12 weeks
• 49% received a treatment recommendation, with 55% actively taking osteoporosis-specific treatment by 16 weeks, matching or exceeding international comparators
• 63% had a long-term care plan shared with their primary healthcare provider
• Of the 2023/24 cohort, 69% remained on treatment at 52 weeks.

The first 6 to 12 months after fracture carry the highest risk of another fracture. Mature data now shows a two-year refracture rate of 8.0%, compared with 11.3% internationally in populations without coordinated FLS care. Timely fragility fracture identification, assessment, coordination, and follow-up are changing outcomes.

There is still work ahead. Improving DXA access, treatment rates, primary care integration, and reaching communities facing the greatest barriers will require continued focus. But the evidence is clear: this programme is protecting independence, reducing avoidable hospitalisation, and improving outcomes for patients and their whānau.

We hope this report prompts both reflection and action.

Is there a patient, client, or community you could reach with a bone health conversation? 

A colleague or team who might benefit from knowing more about their local FLS? 

Or perhaps someone closer to home: a parent, partner, or friend who has had a fall or fracture and does not yet know their risk? 

A bone health assessment takes minutes and can be done online or in discussion with a healthcare provider.

Key insights from the Audit include:

• Significant disparities in fracture data systems, diagnostic access, models of care, and treatment reimbursement
• Rising fragility-fracture rates driven by demographic change
• Persistent gaps in national policies, clinical guidelines, and patient-advocacy engagement
• Clear, scalable opportunities to improve bone health outcomes across the region

Read the full report here.

How did Aotearoa New Zealand compare amongst the 22 countries and regions who participated in the Audit?

APCO and IOF have produced Country and Region Specific Summaries.  Click on this link for New Zealand.

Also, the Overview of Regionally Reported Data confirms a very positive outcome for New Zealand which achieved an excellent rating and ranks as one of the leading countries along with Australia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. Click on this link for the report.

This Strategic Plan sets out Osteoporosis New Zealand’s (ONZ) direction from 2025 to 2030, providing a clear roadmap for reducing the burden of osteoporosis across the life course. The Plan allows ONZ to remain agile in a dynamic policy and healthcare environment while maintaining strategic continuity and focus.

Stronger Together in Action, is anchored by four Strategic Pillars that reflect both our core responsibilities and future ambitions:

• Care – Deliver high-quality secondary and primary fragility fracture prevention for all.
• Awareness – Strengthen public, system, and political understanding of bone health.
• Research – Use evidence and data to inform policy, improve care, and drive innovation.
• Sustainability – Secure the capacity and partnerships needed for long-term national leadership.

Stronger Together in Action reflects ONZ’s commitment to long-term system transformation — ensuring all New Zealanders have access to best-practice prevention and care for stronger bones, fewer fractures, and a better quality of life.

This particular Strategic Plan – Stronger Together in Action also represents ONZ’s specific contribution to Stronger Together: A Collaborative Strategy for Bone Health in New Zealand. – New Zealand’s collaborative national strategy for bone health – and forms part of the broader Call to Action for an “all-of-society” response.

Google New Zealand’s communications and public affairs manager Carrie Jones commented that the results provided interesting data about what Kiwis are thinking about.

“This list of top trending searches spanned pop culture, lifestyle, sports, news – and they’re the queries that had the greatest spike in interest this year as compared to last year.

“So they give us a really good insight into what Kiwis were curious about.

“This year the searches paint a picture of a population that was pragmatic, hyper-vigilant and digitally aware.

“One thing that is consistent year on year is we are sports mad and the All Blacks are actually the most-referenced search term of the past five years.”

Another hot spot in the top 10 was health searches.

“Interestingly in our overall searches list we saw searches for COPD treatment and osteoporosis treatment, perhaps showing Kiwis taking health matters into their own hands,” she said.

Overall top Google New Zealand Searches of 2025

• Charlie Kirk
• COPD treatment
• Osteoporosis treatment
• Tom Phillips
• All Blacks vs France
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Cyclone Alfred
• Iran
• Ed Gein
• Club World Cup

John Mulka, Executive Director, Osteoporosis New Zealand commented on the results.  “As reinforced by the fact two health related issues were in the top 3 of google searches in New Zealand in 2025 validates the importance of the work of Osteoporosis New Zealand.  As highlighted in Stronger Together: A Collaborative Strategy for Bone Health in New Zealand –  innovative public awareness campaigns are needed to promote prevention and encourage New Zealanders to take ownership of their bone health throughout life”

Picture Eden Park filled to capacity for a Rugby World Cup final—50,000 people creating something extraordinary together. That’s exactly how many New Zealanders now have their fragility fracture care journey recorded in the Australian and New Zealand Fragility Fracture Registry (ANZFFR), thanks to the dedicated work of Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) teams across the country.

The Numbers That Show Your Impact:

• 50,000 patients out of 5.39 million New Zealanders (1 in 108) now have comprehensive fragility fracture care
• Millions connected: If you know 50 people, there’s a 37% chance at least one of them has been helped by an FLS team
• Coverage improving: From 55% of eligible patients in Year 1 to 72% in Year 2, and a further increase expected for Year 3
• Prevention focus: Each patient represents a future fragility fracture potentially prevented

The Ripple Effect: How 50,000 Patients Touches Millions

The reach extends far beyond the 50,000 individuals recorded. Between 1-4 million New Zealanders are personally connected to this program through someone they know and care about. They’ve watched a family member, friend, or colleague go from sustaining a fragility fracture to confidence about their bone health. Among New Zealanders aged 65 and older, nearly 9 in 10 will know someone whose fragility fracture care has been transformed by an FLS team.

Thank You to Our FLS Heroes

To every FLS clinical lead, coordinator and administrator, and supporting manager behind the scenes who has contributed to this milestone: you are changing lives every single day.

When someone sustains a fragility fracture after a simple fall, it’s often dismissed as “just one of those things.” But our FLS teams see it as a warning sign and an opportunity: investigating why the fragility fracture happened, assessing bone health and falls risk, creating prevention plans, including treatment if required, and following-up to make sure patients stay on track.

Your impact lives in the stories:

• The 78-year-old who now takes confident walks with her grandchildren
• The 65-year-old man who learned his back pain was actually treatable osteoporosis
• The woman who discovered her “unlucky” falls were actually preventable
• The families who no longer worry about the next emergency room visit

Building a Stronger Future

This milestone represents a foundation for where we’re going. Every record in the ANZFFR represents:

• A person whose quality of life has improved – who can share their story and break the cycle of preventable fragility fractures in their community
• A person whose fear has transformed into knowledge
• A family with one less thing to worry about
• A healthcare system getting better at prevention

Your work is creating a New Zealand where fragility fractures become turning points toward better health, greater confidence, and stronger futures rather than leading to fear and repeated injuries.

Fifty thousand patients. Millions of connected New Zealanders. Countless prevented fragility fractures.

Stronger Together sets out a bold national roadmap to transform bone health and fracture prevention across New Zealand. With more than 40 percent of New Zealanders projected to be aged 50 years or over by 2050, the strategy addresses one of the defining health challenges of our time – the growing impact of osteoporosis and fragility fractures on individuals, whānau, the Accident Compensation Corporation, and the wider health system.

Building on the foundations of its predecessor, BoneCare 2020, the strategy adopts a life-course approach – spanning hip fracture care, secondary and primary fracture prevention, bone health in older and younger adults, youth, and maternal nutrition. Each of its seven objectives is underpinned by evidence-based actions that together provide a coherent framework for lasting improvement.

Endorsed by leading international organisations – including the Fragility Fracture Network, International Osteoporosis Foundation, Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry, Australian and New Zealand Fragility Fracture Registry, Healthy Bones Australia, Osteoporosis Canada, and the Royal Osteoporosis Society – Stronger Together stands as both a national Call to Action and a global exemplar of collaborative leadership.

Osteoporosis New Zealand invites all who share this vision to join the all-of-society effort for better bone health. To help make this shared vision for a stronger, healthier future a reality, please contact info@osteoporosis.org.nz.

To read the full document click here.