title: Current issues and actions in radiation protection of patients.
abstract: Medical application of ionizing radiation is a massive and increasing activity globally. While the use of ionizing radiation in medicine brings tremendous benefits to the global population, the associated risks due to stochastic and deterministic effects make it necessary to protect patients from potential harm. Current issues in radiation protection of patients include not only the rapidly increasing collective dose to the global population from medical exposure, but also that a substantial percentage of diagnostic imaging examinations are unnecessary, and the cumulative dose to individuals from medical exposure is growing. In addition to this, continued reports on deterministic injuries from safety related events in the medical use of ionizing radiation are raising awareness on the necessity for accident prevention measures. The International Atomic Energy Agency is engaged in several activities to reverse the negative trends of these current issues, including improvement of the justification process, the tracking of radiation history of individual patients, shared learning of safety significant events, and the use of comprehensive quality audits in the clinical environment.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Safety & Monitoring Section, Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria. O.Holmberg@iaea.org
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Holmberg
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: Madan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rehani
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Czarwinski
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006077:Government Agencies; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012306:Risk; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards