A series of IAEA projects to help build capacity of medical professionals, physicists and other specialists in Asia and elsewhere to communicate about radiation-related health risks in a nuclear or radiological emergency culminates with a conference in Singapore this week.
The initiative is focused on the need for clear and science-based communication about possible human health effects of radiation during and after any such emergency. Over the last three years, it has included technical meetings, conferences, workshops and the development of learning materials and guides to support training on Science and Technology in Society (STS). STS is an academic field that studies how societies - including their political and cultural values - and science affect each other.
Speakers and panellists at the 3rd Technical Meeting on Science, Technology, and Society Perspectives on Nuclear Science, Radiation, and Human Health: The View from Asia include more than 20 physicians, STS specialists, anthropologists, historians, physicists and government representatives from across the world. It will be held on 23-24 June at the National University in Singapore.
It is the third and final conference in a series of meetings aimed at strengthening the communication capacity among professionals who are tasked with explaining radiation-related health risks in a nuclear or radiological emergency.
The two-day meeting will feature sessions on STS and radiological medicine, nuclear science and human health, as well as lessons learnt from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. Participants will learn about Fukushima Medical University’s (FMU) incorporation of IAEA-developed STS training materials in the medical school curriculum.
The conference in Singapore follows earlier meetings held at the University of Hiroshima in November 2014 and in the University of Nagasaki in July 2015. Participants will share insights with a wider audience from Asia about the importance of public communication on scientific topics.
Press opportunities
Journalists are invited to attend the opening session, set to start at 13:30 on the Ngee Ann Kong Si Auditorium at the National University Singapore, University Town (NUS UTown). The opening session features welcome notes by Gregory Clancey and Tommy Koh, Master and Rector of Tembusu College, National University in Singapore, respectively, and May Abdel-Wahab, Director of the IAEA Division of Human Health as well as Minister Naohiro Tsutsumi of the Embassy of Japan in Singapore.
The first session, set to start at 14:15 and titled “Five Years after Fukushima, What Have We Learned?” also is open to journalists. Speakers include Professor Arifumi Hasegawa, Chair of the FMU’s Department of Radiation Disaster Medicine, Professor Akira Ohtsuru, Director of the FMU’s Radiation Disaster Medical Center and Professor Noboru Takamura, Professor at the Department of Global Health, Medicine and Welfare, Nagasaki University.
Other parts of the meeting are closed to journalists, but journalists interested in seeking interviews with participants should contact Uwe Scholz of the IAEA. Please also see the full Conference programme here.