A year after joining the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the government has adopted the regulatory framework on the use of radiation.Speaking at a workshop yesterday, the Minister of Infrastructure, Eng. Albert Nsengiyumva, said that teams will be dispatched around the country to collect data on all radiation sources.He said the programme was important as it will help the development of science and technology and exchange of information between different entities.The head of the IAEA Advisory Mission to Rwanda, Ibrahim Abd Elrahim Shadad, said they would support the government in the exercise. Radiation is very useful in sectors like medicine, communication and science. Radiation therapy treats cancer by using high energy to kill tumor cells. The goal is to kill or damage cancer cells without hurting healthy cells.Specialists in the area say that reckless use of radiation can cause cancer and other harms to the human life.Dr. Emmanuel Rudakemwa, a radiographer at King Faisal Hospital, told The New Times that the use of radiation in the country was not new but the government should take a lead in providing safe and enough equipment in hospitals. Hospitals use X-ray to diagnose patients and in other places, for security reasons, people are screened by passing through detectors. The four-day workshop that concluded yesterday recommended to the government to urgently set up a national committee on radiation to elaborate a list of radiation sources in the country.
