DUSHANBE, June 18, 2009, Asia-Plus — Mr. Guglielmo Bernardi, an expert with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is currently in Tajikistan on a five day visit (June 15-20) to provide assistance to Tajik physicians with improving protection of patients and medical personnel against ionizing radiation, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Mr. Bernardi’s visit is part of the IAEA “Strengthening Radiological Protection of Patients and Medical Exposure Control” Project.
Mr. Bernardi has provided practical assistance to physicians working with the X-ray endovascular surgery department at the Center for Cardiovascular and Chest Surgery in Dushanbe with improving protection of patients and medical personnel against ionizing radiation. During his stay in Dushanbe, the IAEA expert is expected to specify the patient and personnel radiation dose during cardiac interventional procedures.
Besides, it is also scheduled to develop a complex of measures to reduce the radiation dose of patients and medical personnel. An action plan for 2009-2010 aimed at improving the radiation situation in the X-ray endovascular surgery department will also be worked out.
Mr. Bernardi is also scheduled to deliver three lectures on radiations safety, ionizing radiation exposure as well as medical exposure control subjects for Tajik specialists in roentgenology.
According to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), ionizing radiation is used extensively in medicine; worldwide, about 2000 million diagnostic X ray examinations and 32 million nuclear medicine procedures are carried out annually. Moreover, it is hoped that the use of radiation in medicine will increase, as the benefits for patients are enormous – far exceeding the risks.
According to the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), there is considerable scope for dose reduction in diagnostic radiology and simple, low-cost measures are available for reducing doses without loss of diagnostic information. At the same time, while new diagnostic equipment and techniques bring new benefits, some of the procedures involve the delivery of relatively high radiation exposures to patients. In addition, a number of radiation injuries in interventional radiology and accidental exposures in radiotherapy have been reported. These facts have focused attention on the need to improve the radiological protection of patients in diagnostic and interventional radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy.
The IAEA is authorized by its Statute to establish standards of safety for protection of health and to provide for the application of these standards. The safety standards are the International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (the BSS). The BSS specifically address the radiological protection of patients by placing requirements on responsibilities and training, justification, optimization (design and operational considerations, including calibration, clinical dosimentry and quality assurance), guidance levels, and investigation of accidental medical exposures.
The International Action Plan on the Radiological Protection of Patients was prepared and approved by the Agency”s governing bodies in 2002. The objective of the International Action Plan is to make progress in patient safety as a whole.
