KARACHI: Experts at a symposium discussed hazards posed by radiation to healthcare workers and agreed on the need for adequate safety arrangements at health facilities to avoid any possible dangers to life of workers, particularly those having duties at facilities where radioactive rays and material were present.

The symposium titled ‘Radiation and health imaging: hazards to healthcare workers’ was organised by the radiation safety committee (RSC) of Dr Ziauddin Hospital’s nuclear medicine department to increases awareness of risks involved and ways of safe handling of radiation by healthcare providers.

Dr Nosheen Fatimae, an expert on nuclear medicine, spoke on the role and vision of the radiation safety committee in reliable and accurate radiation therapy measures and stressed the need for maintaining safe environment for practices involving radiations.

“We are all exposed to radiation from the sun, rocks and food and other natural resources,” she said while discussing how people were exposed to radiations.

She said approximately 80 per cent of total radiation exposure to mankind came from natural sources while medical and professional exposure contributed the remaining 20pc.

She categorised the safety measures in two sections. She said the controlled area consisted of the sections of a hospital, where there was a likelihood of receiving an effective dose greater than 6mSv (unit of health effect of ionising radiation) in a year. This section included radioactive waste room, radionuclide treatment room and designated areas for X-ray, mammography and CT scan, etc.

The supervised area was defined as the section where there was a likelihood of receiving an effective dose greater than 1mSv in a year. The section comprised the area processing controlled radiology, reporting room and the reception or corridors, etc.

Syed Mishkat Ali Jafri, principal scientific officer of the Pakistan Nuclear Re­gu­latory Authority (PNRA), spoke on the fundamentals of safety principles, the core functions and responsibilities of the PNRA in monitoring radiation exposure, ensuring the safe handling of radiation in Pakistan, and how to apply radiation safety standards in various fields.

“Our mission is to protect radiation workers, general public and the environment from harmful effects of radiation,” he said.

Dr Maseeh uz Zaman, section head of the Nuclear Medicine of the Aga Khan University Hospital, discussed the history of radiation, its direct and indirect effects and acute radiation syndromes such as hematologic syndrome, gastrointestinal syndrome and central nervous system syndrome.

He said early effects might occur with approximately 25 rad (unit of radiation) and greater while stochastic effects occurred after an extended chronic exposure to radiation. He added that those effects were difficult to quantify and might take a lot of time to become evident.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2015

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