Image Gently: Partnerships to promote radiation protection for children worldwide

Abstract

Strategies to promote radiation protection for children worldwide can be challenging to implement at a local level. On the other hand, partnerships among established agencies, scientific societies and other groups can have a far greater impact at the local level, effecting change more rapidly and broadly compared to each group acting alone. Through collaboration, there is less redundancy of effort and these groups can promote the unique strength of each organization. This paper reviews the different groups that have worked with the Image Gently campaign and discusses international approaches to achieve their desired outcome of radiation protection for children throughout the world. Image Gently is a social marketing campaign that was started in 2007 by the Society for Pediatric Radiology, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American College of Radiology and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine to raise awareness, develop education materials and advocate for children in promoting radiation protection. This group founded the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, which now has 62 members, 25 of them international. Fortunately for children worldwide, there are many active international groups, some with immense global reach, that have worked on this initiative for many years. This paper will review how the collaborative efforts among the groups have been instrumental in bringing attention to this issue, emphasizing the unique perspective of each organization as complementary strategies for outreach efforts to different audiences around the world. Some of the information below is taken from each organization’s website and these sources are gratefully acknowledged. The following is an incomplete list of the organizations that have contributed to this international effort. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (www.iaea.org) is a large worldwide organization centered in Vienna, Austria, that describes itself as “the world’s center of cooperation in the nuclear field.” Under the United Nations authority, it was created in 1957 as the “Atoms for Peace” organization in follow-up to World War II. According to its website, the agency works with its member nations and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful use of all facets of nuclear technology. Specifically, the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging has worked with the Radiation Protection of Patients unit. This group is responsible for developing and directing multi-national projects on medical radiation protection, education and training and quality assurance activities in more than 60 countries. Steering committee members of the Disclaimer Authors have no financial interests, investigational or offlabel uses to disclose.