IOMP President’s Message
John Damilakis, PhD
President, IOMP
IDMP 2024, World Patient Safety Day, Publication on radiation safety culture
Dear Colleagues,
As we approach IDMP 2024, we encourage all national member organizations to actively participate in the celebrations (https://www.iomp.org/idmp-2024/). IOMP will be hosting a 24-hour global event that promises to be both inspiring and informative. I urge medical physicists from every corner of the globe to remain tuned throughout this event. Whether you are an experienced professional or a student just beginning your journey in medical physics, there will be something for everyone. The 24-hour format ensures that no matter where you are in the world, you will have the opportunity to participate and engage with the global medical physics community.
As we have already announced https://www.iomp.org/idmp-2024/ the winner of the IDMP 2024 poster design contest is Dr. Lavanya Murugan from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Madras Medical College, Chennai, India. Her artwork beautifully captures the theme and spirit of this year’s IDMP. I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to all the other contestants who participated in the poster design contest. The quality of submissions was exceptional, and each entry reflected a deep understanding of the importance of medical physics. The decision-making process was incredibly challenging. We appreciate the time, effort, and creativity that each contestant brought to this competition.
World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on September 17th, is a significant global initiative aimed at enhancing patient safety and reducing harm in healthcare. For 2024, the theme “Improving Diagnosis for Patient Safety” has been selected to emphasize the critical importance of accurate and timely diagnoses in ensuring patient safety. To raise global awareness of the issue of diagnostic errors and their impact on patient safety, the WHO is organizing a webinar on World Patient Safety Day 2024 on 17 September 2024 at 13:00-14:30 CEST. This event will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in official relations with WHO that are involved in radiation safety and medical imaging. The webinar will focus on the pivotal role of correct, timely, and safe diagnosis in improving patient safety and will provide a platform for sharing strategies and best practices. The webinar will feature contributions from several key organizations, including the IOMP, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
An important publication titled ‘Enhancing radiation safety culture in health care: guidance for health care providers’ was released recently. To download it please click at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240091115 This document focuses on radiation safety culture in health care, which encompasses all uses of radiation for the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, recovery or palliation of disease, illness and injury. It includes medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing, covering activities such as clinical practice, research applications and clinical trials. It was written through a collaborative effort by the IAEA, the IOMP, the IRPA and the WHO. Its purpose is to provide guidance on and propose a framework for creating a sustainable radiation safety culture in health care facilities, building upon the output from a number of international workshops.