State to set up regulatory body to monitor imaging facilities

Not even 20% of existing facilities are licensed in accordance with AERB rules; no mechanism in place to keep tabs on centres

There are at least 20,000 X-ray centres, over a 1,000 CT scan centres and over 100 mamography centres in Karnataka in both government and private health facilities. However, less than 20% of them have a licence in accordance with the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004, from the Atomic Energy Regulation Board (AERB), Mumbai.

Even if they are licensed, there is no check on whether the centres are following AERB norms. This is because the State does not have a regulatory body for radiation safety.

To keep tabs on imaging facilities and ensure they comply with AERB rules, the government, in the next two months, will establish a Directorate of Radiation Safety under the State Health and Family Welfare Department. A Government Order to this effect was issued on June 13.

This comes following a Supreme Court mandate to establish Directorate of Radiation Safety (DRS) in every State. The State government had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AERB, Mumbai, in December.

Swatantra Banakar, State Deputy Director (Radiation Safety), told The Hindu on Friday that the AERB’s mandate is to ensure that the use of ionising radiation and nuclear energy does not cause undue risk to the health of the patient and environment. “Medical use of X-rays for diagnosis and treatment has proven to be beneficial to society at large. However, in the absence of a regulatory body in the State, we do not know if these facilities have qualified technicians, whether patients are getting the right amount of radiation exposure, and whether the safety norms set by the AERB are being followed,” he said.

Once the directorate is operational, radiation safety officers will check whether nursing homes, clinics, and diagnostic centres have licences and whether they are following AERB norms. Henceforth, whenever new centres are set up, they will be required to take permission from the AERB and State DRS. A fee of ₹1,500 has been fixed for first and second inspections of private imaging facilities. Even after the second inspection, if they are found to violate rules, a penalty of ₹5,000 will be slapped on them, according to the Government Order.

While the District Tuberculosis Programme Officers will be the nodal officers for radiation safety in districts, the director and deputy directors (to be appointed soon) will be in charge of Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts. Radiology technicians and other staff will also be appointed exclusively for the directorate so that they can carry out regular inspections of the facilities.