Abstract
During the International Conference on Radiation Protection in Medicine held in Bonn in 2012, several areas for improvement were identified, including specific actions related with justification, optimization, role of manufacturers, radiation protection education and training, strategic research, data collection on medical and occupational exposures, prevention of incidents and accidents, radiation safety culture, risk-benefit dialogue and implementation of the radiation safety standards. The outcomes of the Bonn Conference were summarized in the so-called ‘Bonn Call for Action’, identifying 10 priority actions to enhance RP in medicine. Trying to analyse the progress in the implementation of this ‘Call for Action’ in the Ibero-American region, several international organizations organized the ‘Ibero-American Conference on Radiation Protection in Medicine’ (Conferencia Iberoamericana sobre Protección Radiológica en Medicina, CIPRaM) held in Madrid, in October 2016. CIPRaM was structured in eight thematic sessions dealing with: diagnostic and dental radiology, image guided interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, health authorities and radiation protection regulators, professional associations of technologists and nurses, professional associations of medical physicists and radiation protection experts, and universities and researchers in radiation protection in medicine. This paper summarizes the main results of that Conference based on the consensus achieved about main problems, solutions, and indicators to evaluate the implementation of the proposed solutions.
Highlights
Radiation protection (RP) in medicine remains a challenge for the undisputed benefit that the use of ionising radiation presents in diagnosis and therapy: a balanced approach is needed, recognizing the multiple health benefits that can be obtained, while assuring that risks are minimised
This paper summarizes the main results of that Conference based on the consensus achieved about main problems, solutions, and indicators to evaluate the implementation of the proposed solutions
This paper summarizes the main results of the Conference, based on the consensus achieved about the main problems, possible solutions and progress indicators
Summary
Radiation protection (RP) in medicine remains a challenge for the undisputed benefit that the use of ionising radiation presents in diagnosis and therapy: a balanced approach is needed, recognizing the multiple health benefits that can be obtained, while assuring that risks are minimised. The advances in health technology continue opening new horizons for the applications of ionising radiation in health care. This has resulted in an increase in the number of medical procedures and professionals involved, and in the need to maintain appropriate standards of radiation safety in the health sector. In March 2001, the IAEA, WHO, PAHO and the European Commission (EC) organized the first International Conference on Radiation Protection of Patients in Malaga, Spain (IAEA 2001), which resulted in an Action Plan promoting a relevant international coordination on this topic. In December 2012, the IAEA in co-sponsorship with the WHO organized a second Conference on Radiation Protection in Medicine with similar objectives held in Bonn, Germany, with the main goal of ‘setting the scene for the decade’ identified 10 priority actions to strengthen radiation protection in medicine: Enhancing aspects of justification and optimization; strengthening the role of manufacturers in radiation safety; Improving education and training in RP; promoting strategic research in RP; Increasing global information on medical and occupational exposures; Improving prevention of incidents and accidents; Strengthening radiation safety culture in medicine; Promoting better benefit-risk dialogue and Strengthening the implementation of the radiation safety requirements (BSS) (IAEA 2014)
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