As President of the Saudi Osteoporosis Society (SOS), I present to you with pride the 1^st SOS International Conference to be held in Riyadh this March 6-8, 2012. As the first international conference in the kingdom focused on osteoporosis and related diseases, our primary aim for this event is to assemble the kingdom’s top experts in this field with the hope of identifying focal issues that will be the basis of future clinical research and osteoporosis management. I thank our honorable speakers for gracing this activity, and for sharing their knowledge to the academic and medical community.

For those of us who have been in this field for quite some time, we are already aware of what osteoporosis can do to debilitate its victims. We also know the extent of its damage in the Saudi community in terms of economic and social aspects. Yet despite everything that we have, osteoporosis remains greatly under diagnosed and under treated. Reversing the cumulative effects of osteoporosis in the Saudi population maybe as slow as the disease itself. The best time to start is now, and the best way to start is through education. I thank our co-organizers, the Prince Metab bin Abdullah Chair for Biomarkers of Osteoporosis (PMCO), and Princess Noura bint Abdullah Chair for Women’s Health Research, for the generous support they have rendered in realizing our common goals.

To all the participants, I personally thank you for your support in this activity. We hope that your participation will not be limited to the personal knowledge that you will gain, but will also be a stepping stone to take charge and responsibility in your respective areas in terms of minimizing, if not eradicating osteoporosis.

I fervently hope this initial activity will be the breeding ground for future and more productive activities for SOS, as well as an assembly of the best local and foreign experts in osteoporosis here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

All the best.

Dr. Riad Sulimani

President

SOS