Expert: X-rays being abused in health care

An executive member of an international radiography organisation yesterday highlighted the problem of the “abuse” of radiation in medical health care which was now generating much concern within the medical fraternity. “We are abusing radiation in the hospitals!” said Patricia Johnson, Vice-President of the Americas, International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT) Johnson issued the warning while addressing the annual conference of the Society of Radiographers of Trinidad and Tobago at the Mt Irvine Hotel in Tobago. This was the first time this conference was held in Tobago.

“The Quest for Total Quality Management in Radiology” was the theme of the two-day session which brought together diagnostic and therapy radiographers from X-Ray and Radiation Therapy Departments in countries across the region, including Barbados, Guyana, St Vincent, Dominica, and the British Virgin Islands. Johnson told her audience, “We are in discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA.) We are aware of the abuse of radiation; some of you may know that in some of the American states (US) they are using full-body X-Rays because of this security concern and you are getting about three ‘micro rems’ every time you go through that machine. Now, if you are like me, constantly on the move, three micro rems per visit in any state are a lot!” Johnson warned.

She said the ISRRT was currently conferring with IAEA personnel “to see if there is any way we can reduce it. I don’t know if the Americans would like it too much but we will try. I mean, we can’t go into countries and dictate to the governments how to set their policies, but we could at least try to protect our profession.” The group has also been discussing the whole issue with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). She said PAHO had recently agreed to assist in the setting up of a workshop on radiation protection and management in Central America — where the problem is significant — in 2005.

“We have to have a workshop in the Caribbean; we’re abusing radiation in the hospitals! So if we get El Salvador going, we can take that same programme and try and get a workshop — it would be about a five-day workshop, hands on too, if we can — in the Caribbean.” Johnson hinted that Trinidad and Tobago may be approached to host it, or even Jamaica. In formally opening the conference, Deputy Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and Secretary of Health/Social Services, Cynthia Alfred emphasised the vital importance of the whole spectrum of radiography/radiology in health care delivery and expressed hope that the session would not be just another “talk-shop.”