Despite AERB's notice, no check on radiation machines at Delhi's medical institutions
Despite AERB's notice, no check on radiation machines at Delhi's medical institutionsThey say prevention is better than cure, but then who is listening?
It's been a month since Mayapuri industrial area in the Capital was left paralysed with the ugly incident of radioactive exposure but it seems no lessons have been learnt. More than 800 pathological labs are running in Delhi using radioactive material without complying with norms and they don't even have qualified radiologists to keep check.
What's the cure? None of the hospitals so far have responded to the
notice and are running machines having radioactive content and are not
complying with the norms. file picNot only this, the hospitals have paid no heed to the notice sent by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to submit details of radioactive machines used in their premises.
Deaf ears
"More than 800 laboratories and a few top hospitals in the Capital are using machines with radioactive material. They are yet to clarify their status," said a source in the health department.
Following the notice sent by the regulatory bodies, the Delhi government also asked hospitals to reply to its notice about prevailing conditions, but nothing happened.u00a0
"May 25 was the assigned date for the respective hospitals and pathological labs to reply. But not even a single hospital has responded," said a health department official, wishing anonymity.
Some of the hospitals on the list are Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Apollo Hospital, Max Healthcare, Fortis and St Stephen's Hospital. Besides these, some of the better known pathological labs are also under the scanner for using faulty machines with radioactive content and without any supervision of trained staff.
Larger issueu00a0u00a0
"The small-scale hospitals and labs that have not even disclosed the nature of radioactive machines in their premises pose a bigger threat than the other hospitals. This is simply a violation of the norms set by AERB. In fact there is no data available as to how many such centres are operating in the Capital," added the official.
All hospitals and pathological labs using machines with radioactive content are required to fill Form A and D provided by the AERB under which the regulatory body maintains data on machines.u00a0
"These machines should be kept under regular maintenance and should adhere to the stringent safety norms prescribed by the regulatory body. By filling the forms, the hospitals update AERB about the usage and the maintenance of machines," said the official.u00a0
The machines are used for X-ray, ultrasound and treating diseases like cancer. Besides regular maintenance,
| Root cause |
| While investigating the radiation case in Mayapuri, the agencies deployed by the Centre stumbled upon the fact that most of the path labs are importing the radiation machines from European countries. The norms prescribed by these countries for using and disposing of the machine are hardly followed and that is the reason why the quality of such machines is suspect. While BARC and AERB have set stringent measures, they are rarely being updated about the ground level situation. |
the systems must be operated by or under guidance of a trained radiologist. But as per records, most of the path labs don't even have qualified radiologists to keep a tab over theu00a0 machines and to alert the respective agencies in case of an emergency.
Need for actionThe sources also stated that most of the labs are using imported machines whose manufacturers had shut shops a few years ago.u00a0
"Radioactive waste is accumulating every day and there is no data available. Incidents like Mayapuri could become frequent if the government does not step in and prescribe punitive action against defaulters," said an official of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on condition of anonymity. Health Secretary JP Sharma refused to speak on the notice issued by the state government.
