Ethics and medical radiological imaging: a policy brief for health care providers stresses the importance of integrating ethics into the existing framework designed to protect people from harmful radiation effects during
medical procedures. The new brief highlights the need to put patients at the centre of health care and to deliver radiological imaging in an ethical way.
The existing framework is based on two fundamental principles: justification of the procedures and optimization of radiation protection for both patients and health workers. Conformity with those principles was assumed sufficient to ensure ethical good
practice in medical imaging.
But over the past 25 to 30 years, the use of ionizing radiation in medicine has greatly increased, prompting a growing recognition of the need to make explicit reference to ethics. Over the same period, stakeholders in health care have been placing greater
emphasis on patient-centred care.
“The optimal balance between radiation benefits and risks must be ensured” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. “Whenever radiological imaging procedures are proposed, only necessary
examinations should be performed, and patients should know they can expect appropriate, timely and safe services.”
This lack of awareness of ethical standards, which has recently come to prominence, may have profound consequences for patients, raising the need for WHO and relevant partners to address it.
“All patients have a right to ethical health care, including being informed about and involved in decisions regarding their diagnosis and treatment” said Dr John Reeder, WHO Director, Department of Research for Health. “Dignity, respect,
privacy and confidentiality should be maintained throughout their care.”
While the policy brief is intended primarily to raise awareness among clinicians who request radiological imaging procedures and those who deliver radiological services on a day-to-day basis, WHO hopes it will also empower the hundreds of millions of
patients who need these procedures and services, and their families.
Ultimately, it aims to spark an overdue cultural change in medical imaging and propel it closer to current general approaches to patient-centred health care delivery and safety.