Khan made the statement at a new conference on Wednesday and urged patients who were treated at the centre to make themselves available for radiation testing.
He said the Ministry of Health is making sure that there is no repeat of this incident in the future.
"We hope that the 223 patients, if they have not yet been contacted by the Brian Lara Cancer Centre for that period, they should do so and get whatever checks needed to determine whether or not there was any over-exposure of mal-effects from that radiation," the minister said.
The Minister also promised to submit to cabinet plans for a comprehensive radiation protection legislation.
Khan explained that the government commissioned a review by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) into the clinical and calibration procedures of a linear radiation machine after a suspected radiation dose incident at the cancer facility.
The PAHO review was prompted by a local physicist, Damian Rudder, who claimed that the radiotherapy machine at the centre was, at one time, administering too much radiation to patients.
Khan said Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Anton Cumberbatch has confirmed that the Health Ministry would be actively pursuing an investigation into the report that the Centre's linear accelerator was possibly administering up to 20% more radiation than was necessary.
Cumberbatch gave an assurance that since the recalibration of the machines, they have been functioning at the required standard.
"We hope that the 223 patients, if they have not yet been contacted by the Brian Lara Cancer Centre for that period, they should do so and get whatever checks needed to determine whether or not there was any over-exposure of mal-effects from that radiation," the minister said.
The Minister also promised to submit to cabinet plans for a comprehensive radiation protection legislation.
Khan explained that the government commissioned a review by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) into the clinical and calibration procedures of a linear radiation machine after a suspected radiation dose incident at the cancer facility.
The PAHO review was prompted by a local physicist, Damian Rudder, who claimed that the radiotherapy machine at the centre was, at one time, administering too much radiation to patients.
Khan said Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Anton Cumberbatch has confirmed that the Health Ministry would be actively pursuing an investigation into the report that the Centre's linear accelerator was possibly administering up to 20% more radiation than was necessary.
Cumberbatch gave an assurance that since the recalibration of the machines, they have been functioning at the required standard.
No comments:
Post a Comment