Department of Medical Radiography, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Department of Medical Radiography, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Kano, Nigeria.
Radiography (Lond). 2021 Aug;27(3):962-967. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2021.02.001. Epub 2021 Mar 5.
The Bonn call for action, with the theme: "Setting the scene for the next decade," was declared over nine years ago to strengthen radiation protection in medicine. This study reviews key actions and activities related to radiation protection of children and adolescents consistent with the Bonn call for action in sub-Saharan Africa to highlight progress and identify existing gaps.
A lot has happened since the declaration of the Bonn call-for-action such as a follow-up conference in 2017 on achieving change in the practice of radiation protection. However, there exists a huge gap that needs to be filled in the radiation protection of children and adolescents in low and middle-income countries particularly sub-Saharan Africa, where limited resources in health compete with radiation protection demands. Some of the gaps that remain are the apparent lack of implementation of the use of referral guidelines and establishment of national and regional diagnostic reference levels for paediatric imaging among others.
Several strides have been achieved on a global scale for the Bonn call for action, ranging from the justification of medical exposures to the current drive for radiation safety culture in medical imaging. However, several unmet needs for radiation protection for children and adolescents remain such as implementation of referral guidelines for justification and paediatric diagnostic reference levels.
Step up actions and close collaboration is required to strengthen the practice of paediatric radiation protection in low and middle-income countries because children account for a greater proportion of the population and are vulnerable to the negative effects of radiation like possible cancer induction.
“为下一个十年奠定基础”的波恩行动呼吁发布至今已超过九年，旨在加强医学中的辐射防护。本研究回顾了与撒哈拉以南非洲儿童和青少年辐射防护相关的波恩行动呼吁中的关键行动和活动，以突出进展并确定现有差距。
自波恩行动呼吁发布以来，已经发生了很多事情，例如 2017 年就辐射防护实践的变革举行了后续会议。然而，在中低收入国家，特别是撒哈拉以南非洲，儿童和青少年的辐射防护方面仍然存在巨大差距，这些国家的卫生资源有限，难以满足辐射防护的需求。一些仍然存在的差距包括明显缺乏实施转诊指南的情况，以及建立儿科影像的国家和区域诊断参考水平等。
全球范围内已经在波恩行动呼吁方面取得了一些进展，从医学照射的正当性到目前在医学成像领域推动辐射安全文化。然而，儿童和青少年的辐射防护仍存在一些未满足的需求，例如实施转诊指南以证明其正当性和建立儿科诊断参考水平。
需要加强中低收入国家的儿科辐射防护实践，因为儿童在这些国家的人口中占比较大，而且易受到辐射的负面影响，如可能引发癌症。
