Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2016
Keywords:
Action 12 - Cooperation with international radiation protection initiatives and other stakeholders including IAEA, WHO, ICRP, HERCA, European Commission, Action 13 - Stakeholder engagement and collaboration
Authors:
L. Lau, J. P. Borgstede
DOI:
10.1594/esi2016/ESI-0004
Conclusion and Recommendations
Securing the Future by Teamwork
The Society tabled two statements during the WHA in 2014 and urged the WHO to allocate resources to enable the WHO to lead effectively and carry out its global responsibilities in radiology (8,
9). Sustainable funding is required for programs aiming to facilitate access and more appropriate use of radiology and their coordination by a WHO HQ-based radiologist. Within its resources,
the Society collaborates with the WHO and others to improve universal health coverage,
access and use of radiology by facilitating education and training of health professionals; and the identification and use of affordable,
sustainable and innovative technologies.
Since the formation of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in 1928,
the radiology community has been active in advancing radiation protection. The interest in and actions for radiation protection have escalated in recent years. The 2012 Bonn Conference “International Conference on Radiation Protection in Medicine: Setting the Scene for the Next Decade” laid down a road map for radiation protection actions for the next decade. In the last decade,
radiology organizations have successfully launched radiation protection campaigns to promote awareness and champion radiation safety actions e.g.
Image Gently,
Image Wisely,
EuroSafe Imaging,
AFROSAFE,
Latinsafe,
and Canada Safe Imaging etc. The priorities identified by these campaigns closely aligned with the ten main actions as documented in “Bonn call-for-action” (10) (Figure 6).
The Society is committed to representing its members and supporting their radiation protection campaigns. As an NGO in official relations with the WHO,
the International Society of Radiology is well positioned to serve as an umbrella body for these campaigns and work with other stakeholders to improve access and more appropriate use of radiology.
Our common objectives are to promote dialogue,
share experience,
identify synergy,
minimize duplication,
encourage participation,
and facilitate improvement by working with other international organizations and UN agencies. Forming part of the on-going improvement,
the Society is refining a structure that would enable it to represent its members more effectively and to collaborate with the radiation protection campaigns in a more impactful way.