HAMILTON, Ont. – To address the need for a national strategy and action plan relating to radiation safety for medical imaging care in Canada, a coalition of key stakeholders is being formed, called Canada Safe Imaging.

Canada Safe Imaging will be formally launched in the months ahead with invitations to participate to include agencies, professional associations, universities, colleges, national research institutions and hospitals.

One impetus for this new Canadian initiative is to align with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative, supported by 77 countries and 16 organizations, titled the “Bonn Call-for-Action,” which outlines 10 major strategies for promoting radiation protection.

During a recent trip to Europe, “I was surprised to learn that Canada was not part of this initiative, and when I came back, I said that we had to react and join this international movement,” said Dr. David Koff (pictured), radiologist-in-chief at Hamilton Health Sciences. “Therefore, we created a coalition with a number of Canadian organizations involved in medical radiation, which ended up with the creation of CSI.”

CSI is headquartered at MIIRCAM (Medical Imaging Informatics Research Centre at McMaster), McMaster University. Also spearheading the effort is Helen Chen, PhD, who is co-Chair of CSI and a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo.

The delivery of healthcare is a provincial responsibility, but a focused national strategy and a unified effort is needed to ensure radiation safety in medical imaging for all Canadians, said Dr. Koff.

Canada Safe Imaging will develop awareness and adoption of current and emerging radiation patient protection strategies for Canadians and, amongst other activities, promote needed research.

Look for more information on Canada Safe Imaging coming your way in the months ahead.