Authorship also includes:
I Boechat1,
KE Applegate2
- David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA,
Los Angeles,
CA,
USA
- University of Kentucky,
Lexington,
KY USA
The Image Gently® Alliance mission is “… through advocacy,
to improve safe and effective imaging care of children worldwide” (1-3).
There continues to be a need for education and advocacy for radiation use in medicine,
including in the pediatric population (4).
Moreover,
the Image Gently® model even recently continues to enhance the practice of imaging in children in venues outside of North America (5).
Partnerships have included Caribbean and South American Societies for many years,
including LATINSAFE.
Recently,
a concerted effort to improve the alignment with relevant medical societies in Brazil was instituted,
with these initiatives spreading beyond the borders of Brazil.
Relevant background points include:
Identification of relevant imaging societies in Brazil
Identification and commitment of Image Gently® leadership and leadership and expertise in Brazil:
o Dra.
Dolores Bustelo
o Continued guidance by recognized imaging societies in Brazil
o Dr.
Ines Boechat,
with extensive global expertise in imaging as a global medicine pioneer; the architect,
founder and first president of the successful World Federation of Pediatric Imaging (WFPI)
o Dr.
Kimberly Applegate and Dr.
Donald Frush; steering committee members and international representatives for Image Gently®
Establish responsive communication networks between Alliance and relevant societies
o Rapid and targeted dialogues with leadership in interested organizations
o Expedite Alliance membership,
with elucidation of member benefits and expectations
Highlight alignment in missions between Image Gently® imaging organizations and other clinical societies/organizations (Figure 1)
o Brazilian Pediatric Society
o Pediatric Society of Paraná
o Brazilian College of Radiology - CBR
o Brazilian Council of Medicine - CFM
o Brazilian Medical Association - AMB
o Brazilian Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology - SBOT
o Latin Safe
o Latin-American Pediatric Radiology Society - SLARP
o Inter-American College of Radiology - CIR
o World Federation Pediatric Imaging - WFPI
Assess relevance of efforts in Brazil to transnational organizations such as the Inter-American College of Radiology (CIR) (Figure 2)
Assess whether timely release of announcements relevant to the Campaign can coincide with other messaging: National Children Day (October 12th,
2018) and International Day of Radiology yearly in November.
The seventh International Day of Radiology (IDoR) was November 8,
2018.
IDoR marked the anniversary of the 1895 discovery of the X-ray by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen; on November 7 the International Day of Medical Physics celebrates Marie Curie’s birthday in 1867 and her first Nobel Prize honor,
using WHO and IOMP messages: https://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/medical_exposure/Message_IDMP2014.pdf
Maintain close communication with existing aligned organizations in South America such as Latin Safe and Latin Safe Pediatrica.
Much of this effort was orchestrated by Dra.
Dolores Bustelo,
a widely acclaimed pediatric radiologists in Paraná,
Brazil.
Dr.
Bustelo identified,
embraced and worked with committed medical organizations focused mainly in Brazil and carefully identified supportive individuals who have seminal roles,
such as presidents or chairs,
in these organizations.
This has been a particularly successful vehicle in advancing partnerships for the Image Gently® Alliance in its global efforts.
Additional background for this partnership in Brazil includes:
o 208,917,661 inhabitants
o 65 million children and adolescents (Brazilian Pediatric Society information)
o 450,000 active medical doctors working (Federal Council of Medicine information)
o 35,000 Pediatricians (Brazilian Pediatric Society information).