Breach of radiation safety and protocol standardization in unregulated diagnostic facilities -The invisible threat

Current era is experiencing an unprecedented, explosive technological growth in both radiology and nuclear medicine. This is primarily driven by an aging population, rising chronic illnesses, and a massive influx of capital and now these fields are transitioning from traditional structural scanning to highly advanced, molecular, and predictive diagnostics tools. However, this rapid expansion of modern healthcare, convenience often outpaces caution. In Pakistan over the last decade, urban and suburban neighbourhoods have experienced a massive surge in standalone, private diagnostic and therapeutic imaging facilities. While this boom has made X-rays, CT scans, mammograms and nuclear medicine more accessible to the public, it has also created a dangerous, unregulated frontier. Operating largely under the radar of stringent oversight (Health Commission and Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority, PNRA), many of these diagnostic facilities are exposing patients and medical staff to unnecessary, cumulative, and potentially hazardous levels of radiation. In this regard PNRA has already taken effective initiatives to strengthen its watch dog’s role by advising its licensees to abide the new safety measures. It is time for local healthcare commissions to step in as well and join hands with PNRA to ensure standardise protocols and strictly enforce global radiation safety metrics as formulated by PNRA.