Editor's Note: The following is excerpted from a World Spine Care press release and edited in accordance with our style guide.
Today, 577 million people suffer from lower back pain globally.
- More than 1 billion people globally experience spine-related disabilities.
- The greatest burden of disability worldwide is attributed to neck and back pain combined.
- Spine pain disproportionately affects women, the elderly, rural communities, and lower-income countries.
Over the past 10 years, 60-plus volunteers have provided more than 50,000 patient visits to individuals at the World Spine Care clinics located in communities with otherwise limited access to spine care. In addition, the Global Spine Care Initiative has continued to conduct and publish research to help others provide similar services.
Your generosity will help to purchase equipment for our global clinics, support our team of international volunteers, and provide the much-needed research and educational support to provide evidence-based spine care to the underserved. You will move us toward our vision of a world in which everyone has access to the highest-quality spine care possible.
The 2021 Helping Hands campaign was established to encourage individuals to donate a dollar a day (or a multiple thereof) for 57 days in honor of the 577 million people in the world suffering from lower back pain. In addition, you can start your own clinic fundraiser, encouraging patients to also get involved.
You can also receive emails with information about the work you're helping to support, along with tips and tools you can share with your networks, including:
- Updates from the World Spine Care clinics, including our newly formed BH3 clinic in Gaborone [Botswana]
- Our Promotional Package that will help you to promote the campaign to your networks
- A Helping Hands Toolkit that includes media assets to showcase in your clinic, as well as online
- Details on the latest educational and research publications, developed to support spine health globally
World Spine Care is an international charitable organization that provides evidence-based spinal care to underserved communities around the world through clinics in Botswana, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and India. The organization is registered as a nonprofit in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. To learn more about World Spine Care and the Helping Hands campaign, visit: www.worldspinecare.org/helping-hands.