The number of osteoporosis patients is approaching 1.2 million a year, but the budget for developing and disseminating osteoporosis guidelines has been cut in full.

Rep. In Jae-geun of the Democratic Party of Korea said so Wednesday after analyzing data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) and the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

According to Rep. In, 1,181,805 patients received osteoporosis treatment in 2022. It was over 200,000 more than the 972,196 patients treated in 2018. Female patients reached 1,105,060, 94.4 percent, while men totaled 66,745, 5.6 percent.

The main causes of osteoporosis are aging and hormonal changes. In particular, the decline in female hormones during menopause contributes to lower bone density, which explains why women are far more likely to be treated for osteoporosis than men.

Osteoporosis patients under the age of 49 showed not very wide gap by gender as of 2022, with 5,283 men and 24,532 women.

However, by the time people reach their 50s, women are over 22 times more likely to be diagnosed with osteoporosis than men. In the case of osteoporosis patients in their 60s, the gender gap widens to about 25.8 times.

Despite the expected increase in osteoporosis patients due to the aging population, In pointed out that the KDCA's 2024 budget for developing chronic disease guidelines was completely cut.

The KDCA's chronic disease guideline development project was introduced to improve the quality of medical services at primary medical centers in charge of the early stages of chronic diseases. The project, which has been underway since 2013, develops and disseminates clinical guidelines for chronic diseases based on medical evidence.

So far, guidelines for various chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have been developed and distributed to primary medical institutions. These guidelines are also used as medical evidence for the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in addition to proper management of chronic diseases in the early stages.

KDCA has been developing osteoporosis guidelines since January with a plan that takes three years. This year's budget is about 200 million won ($147,000). However, it will not be reflected in next year's budget, and the agency will have to bear losses without any guideline development results.

"Osteoporosis can easily lead to major accidents, including fractures, but it has no pain or symptoms in itself, so early screening and prevention are essential, and it is important to pay attention to it daily," Rep. In said. "The government should show more active will to manage chronic diseases, including osteoporosis, and review the need for related projects and reflect them in next year's budget."