DHA participates in WHO meeting on global initiatives in radiation safety for the medical field.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, September, 25, 2013: The DHA recently participated in a WHO meeting that was held in Geneva to discuss global initiatives on radiation safety in healthcare settings.

Several representatives from international societies, scientific committees and healthcare entities attended this radiation safety meeting that was held to discuss ways to protect  the public, patients and healthcare professionals from unnecessary  radiation exposure due to diagnostic, imaging or therapeutic purposes.

Dr Jamila Suwaidi, Consultant Medical Physicist and Chairperson of Radiation Protection Committee at the DHA said: “Medical exposure of ironizing radiation  is considered to be the largest man-made radiation source and it has biological effects, if the radiation protection principles are not correctly applied in medicine. Therefore, this meeting is of significant important to discuss at a global level ways to ensure safety in radiation used for medical purposes.”

Dr Jamila said that DHA participation in the WHO meeting highlighted the radiation safety procedures undertaken at the DHA which is at par with international standards.

She further elaborated and said: “ Within the DHA, we have programmes for radiology quality control. We also conduct education and training in radiation and safety, and this is an on-going initiative that takes place from time-to-time.”

Dr Jamila said that it is important for both patients and healthcare providers to be aware of radiation safety and this culture should be adopted through awareness and training programs. “Patients should follow the rules and make sure they wear protective gear, pregnant women should always mention that they are pregnant before undergoing any procedure which involves radiation exposure. These are basic precautions, that all patients must undergo and this is possible only once they understand the importance of radiation safety.”

She added that last year, DHA also took part in a radiation safety congress in Germany .

Laila Al Balooshi, Senior Medical Physicist, participated in the German congress and  presented a paper on the radiation exposure levels within the DHA.  She said: “Our radiation levels are within the accepted levels of international standards, in fact, for some radiological examinations, they were lower than internationally accepted standards. These procedures include dental radiology practise within the DHA.”

Dr Suwaidi added that in this year's congress one of the recommendations was to adopt a radiology referral guideline.

She added that the DHA will continue its on-going efforts to keep radiation levels within international limits and educate both patients and healthcare professionals about radiation safety.