Submitted by Mike Grenville on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:27

A million text messages are being sent by the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia as part of a national campaign against the spread of osteoporosis.

Arab News reports that the campaign to alert the public about the importance of combating the disease, will also distribute a million pamphlets throughout the Kingdom’s 20 health regions.

The aim is to highlight to highlight the disease and encourage people to take preventive measures.

“We want to take possible preventive measures against the disease, which is common mostly among women over the age of 50,” said Dr. Yacoub Al-Mazroei, deputy minister of health, who launched the campaign on behalf of Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie.

Quoting recent reports, Al-Mazroei said one out of two women over the age of 50 is either susceptible or a victim of the disease. Among men the ratio is one to eight.

In addition print and electronic media will carry articles to raise awareness of the growing dangers of the disease in the Kingdom.