AGARTALA, November 7 (TIWN): The Indian Society of Radiographers and Technologists (ISRT) in collaboration with Tripura Institute of Paramedical Science (TIPS) are going to celebrate “World Radiography Day” on 8th November at TIPS campus.

General Secretary of Indian Society of Radiographers and Technologists (ISRT) Suresh Malayath said that World Radiography Day marks the anniversary of the discovery of X-rays in 1895.

The World Radiography Day is celebrated all over the world by the Radiographic community as an iconic day to make realize the value of Radiography and related technologies to public, other health professionals and indeed, ourselves. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of radiographic imaging and therapy, which play a crucial role in the diagnosis and the treatment of patients and, most importantly, ensuring radiation is kept to the minimum required, hence improving the quality of patient care, he mentioned.

Radiation has become a common word even for lay man due to the wide spread usage of mobile phones. In radiology (medicine) more power radiation (ionizing radiation) is used for diagnosis and therapy. So the safety is very important in large public interest said Suresh Malayath.

It is to be mentioned here that earlier Suresh Malayath said that in India the usage of radiation is regulated by Atomic Energy act, 1962 and Atomic Energy (radiation protection) rules-2004. Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), Mumbai is the competent authority to regulate the x-ray and scan units in India and ensure the radiation safety. But, in a country like India, centralized agency like AERB cannot alone discharge the statutory functions and regulate lakhs of x-ray/Scan centers in various states. So AERB had decided to hand over the functions to states and directed them to constitute Directorate of Radiation Safety (DRS) in all states. But only in Kerala and Mizoram has constituted DRS.

Tripura and other north eastern states have not taken any initiative to constitute the DRS. This lapse will worsen the things related with radiation safety, he added. He also mentioned that many Radiographers in Tripura are working without TLD badges to monitor the radiation dose received to them. This is a matter of serious concern in which the government and AERB has to pay much attention. Moreover, no updating of knowledge is occurring among Radiographers of Tripura. If DRS is constituted in Tripura continuous updating will be enable and more professional Excellency will be achieved. We demand government of Tripura to constitute DRS in Tripura, he added.