When? 11-15 December 2017
Where? IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria
For whom?
The conference is directed at a wide audience with an interest in radiation protection in medicine.
In particular:
- Health professionals, e.g. physicians practising in radiological imaging, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy; referring medical practitioners;
- Medical physicists, radiographers and technologists; radiation protection professionals and engineers;
- Healthcare managers, health economists and risk communication experts;
- Representatives of patient organizations and manufacturers; health researchers and academics;
- Representatives of health authorities and regulatory authorities with a special responsibility in this field.
Important deadlines
- The contributed papers must be submitted between 15 March and 15 June 2017;
- Submitting authors and presenting authors must send forms to their appropriate governmental authority for transmission to the IAEA. These forms must be received by the IAEA no later than 15 June 2017.
Further information on the paper submission as well as Participation form, Form for submission of a paper and Grant application form for download are available on the webpage >>
About
The use of ionizing radiation in medicine during the past 120 years is well established, as it has resulted in tremendous benefit to humankind in diagnosing and treating diseases. While the medical benefits are unquestionable, there have been repeated reports of unintended and unnecessary use of radiation in medicine, creating the need for implementing radiation protection principles.
The IAEA was requested by its General Conference in 1999 to organize an international conference on radiation protection of patients. This conference was held in March 2001 in Malaga, Spain, and triggered an international action plan that is guiding international efforts in patient protection. This created momentum in radiation protection of patients globally.
Considering current trends and developments, the IAEA decided to hold its second conference on radiation protection in medicine in 2012 in Bonn, Germany. The conference aimed to focus efforts in this area and develop strategy for the next decade so as to maximize the positive impact of future international work. This resulted in the Bonn Call for Action.
During the last 5 years following the Bonn conference, a number of initiatives have been taken by professional societies to form regional radiation protection campaigns. There are an increasing number of publications appearing in journals in the area of patient, occupational, and public medical radiation protection and in research. There are also technological advances in imaging, therapy and dosimetry equipment with focus on radiation protection.
Scope
The main purpose of the conference is to take stock of the progress made following the Bonn Call for Action and thus assess impact. The coverage includes optimization and justification in medical exposure; safety in medical use of ionizing radiation; and also radiation protection of medical staff and public, when ionizing radiation is used for diagnosis, intervention, therapy or research. There should be input from multiple health professions using or prescribing ionizing radiation, such as all relevant groups of physicians, medical physicists, radiographers, nurses, engineers, as well as from patients, regulatory authorities, health service managements, health authorities and policy-makers.
Preliminary list of topics
- Activities relating to the Bonn Call for Action, and their impact;
- Justification in the use of radiation in medicine;
- Radiation protection of patients and staff in diagnostic radiography, fluoroscopy and CT;
- Radiation protection in mammography, dental and maxillofacial imaging and other diagnostic modalities;
- Radiation protection of patients and staff in interventional procedures;
- Radiation protection in medical exposures of children and pregnant women;
- Radiation protection of patients and staff in radiotherapy including brachytherapy;
- Learning from unintended and accidental exposures in medicine;
- Radiation protection of patients, staff and the public in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine and hybrid imaging;
- How are we strengthening radiation safety culture in healthcare?;
- How are we fostering and improving the radiation benefit/risk dialogue?;
- How are we meeting radiation protection challenges in design and implementation of new medical technologies?;
- How are we meeting challenges in patient dose recording, tracking and data management?;
- Regional radiation safety campaigns;
- Topics for future research and development in medical radiation protection.
What are the expected outcomes?
- Assessment of impact of the Bonn Call for Action;
- Strengthening the position of and improving radiation protection in medicine globally, taking into account the diverse challenges in radiation protection in medicine regionally;
- Response to radiation protection challenges from imaging and therapy modalities that were at an initial stage five years ago;
- Conclusion on results from the Bonn Call for Action by Member States;
- New findings and priorities relating to radiation safety.
Further information on the paper submission and other information will be provided later on the webpage >>
