The Ministry of Health Malaysia and National Cancer Institute (IKN), Putrajaya is proud to host the 5th World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Workshop for Asian and Pacific Countries on “Radiation Safety Culture in Healthcare” (8^th– 10^th of November 2017) as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Regional Workshop on “Dose Optimization- Analysis & Interpretation Of Patient Dose Data” (6^th– 10^th of November 2017). These are in conjunction with “International Day of Radiology” (IDOR) celebration which falls on 8^th of November and celebrated annually worldwide.

The WHO, the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) and the International Organization of Medical Physics (IOMP) conduct a joint project to gather feedback from key stakeholders to develop a framework document providing guidance for the establishment and maintenance of a Radiation Safety Culture in Health Care (RSCHC) as part of a safety culture program in healthcare settings. Its objective is to identify priorities for establishing and maintaining a sustainable radiation safety culture in medicine by collecting feedback from healthcare providers in Asia-Pacific countries.

The IAEA Programme – Dose Optimization: Analysis and Interpretation of Patient Dose Data is a five-day intensive workshop aim to educate the participants on the implementation of patient dose optimization for diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology and nuclear medicine imaging. It is also to ensure that the participants will gain sufficient knowledge on the purpose, method of setting National Diagnostic Reference Levels (NDRLs) by establishing an effective method of dose data collection and evaluation and studying the impact of these reference levels on radiation dose to the patient. Another objective is to share the practical experience from the experts and local organisers’ in dose optimisation. All of these are to optimize patient protection from radiation hazards.

A total of 250 participants, both from Malaysia and Asia-Pacific attended this event. The experts from WHO & IAEA, namely are:

1. María del Rosario PEREZ, M.D., Scientist, Radiation Programme, World Health Organization, Switzerland
2. Dr. Madan M. Rehani, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
3. Claire-Louise Chapple (IRPA), Clinical Scientist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
4. Kosuke Matsubara Ph.D., Associate Professor, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan
5. Tadashi Watabe M.D., Ph.D., FANMB, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
6. Prof Dr. Ng Kwan Hoong, Ph.D., Professor of Medical Physics, Department of Biomedical Imaging, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
7. Miss Debbie Bray Gilley, MSc, Radiation Protection Specialist, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria

The theme for this year’s IDOR is “Emergency Radiology”. The emergency department is one of the places where overutilization of radiological examinations frequently takes place.  Hence, the theme chosen this year is to raise awareness on the safe use of radiation in emergency cases among medical personnel with the hope of minimizing unwarranted radiation exposure to patients. All medical personnel require knowledge of radiation protection and adhere to safety precautions. Usage of radiation requires justification, optimization and dose limitation. Thus, the effort towards achieving the above resulted in the creation of a concise “Clinical Imaging Guidelines in Radiology” handbook. College of Radiology together with the other clinical counterparts have reviewed international practice guidelines and have taken the “adopt and adapt” approach from the IRefer by the Royal College of Radiologists UK with their kind permission. These guidelines will be used by all clinicians as guidance in making appropriate decisions before requesting for radiological investigations for optimal patient care.

The Ministry hope to host many more such workshops in future with international organisations to discuss issues pertaining to radiation protection and to promote safe use of radiation to safeguard human health.

Thank you.

DATUK DR NOOR HISHAM ABDULLAH

DIRECTOR GENERAL OF HEALTH MALAYSIA

8^th November 2017