Osteoarthritis cases projected to near 1 billion by 2050, Lancet roadmap warns

Nearly one billion people globally are projected to have osteoarthritis by 2050, an increase from roughly 600 million in 2023, according to a global health policy roadmap released Monday. The roadmap, published in The Lancet on World Arthritis Day by a group of international researchers led by Australia's Curtin University, warns that no cure exists and no drug can stop or slow the disease.

The researchers called for stronger health policies to tackle the growing global disability burden from the condition. According to the roadmap, osteoarthritis remains under-recognized in health policies worldwide, is often inadequately integrated into healthcare for chronic diseases, and is treated and prevented inconsistently and often inappropriately.

The roadmap urges governments to treat osteoarthritis as a major chronic disease, improve access to evidence-based care, invest in prevention by addressing excess body weight and joint injuries, and integrate osteoarthritis care with broader chronic disease and rehabilitation services.

Professor Andrew Briggs, the report's lead author from Curtin University, said osteoarthritis faces an image problem, describing how it is perceived and dismissed in communities as an unavoidable part of aging with limited management options.

Professor Lyn March, a co-senior author from Australia's Kolling Institute, said the global disability burden attributed to osteoarthritis increased by 65 percent between 1990 and 2023. The researchers warned that rising obesity rates, population aging and increasing joint injuries are expected to drive further growth in cases in the coming decades.