ESTRO Annual Report 2019

4. Creation of partnerships with international agencies, organisations and associations Partnership and collaboration are key words for ESTRO. In 2019, ESTRO further worked to position radiotherapy in international forums. ESTRO has a long-standing and privileged collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) : in 2019 ESTRO experts attended and contributed to dedicated IAEA meetings, and the IAEA supported the attendance of 226 participants in ESTRO teaching courses, which fostered training, education and access to radiotherapy globally. ESTRO intensified dialogue with the World Health Organization (WHO) , and contributed to the WHO initiative on human papilloma virus (HPV), which was named the “Accelerate Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative”. ESTRO provided input to the open consultation and experts participated in the initiative working groups. 5. Creation of partnerships and new collaborative approaches with corporate members Collaboration with ESTRO’s corporate partners is instrumental in the advancement of radiotherapy and the delivery of optimal care to patients. The activities of the ESTRO Cancer Foundation (ECF), which was co-created with industry partners, aim to raise awareness of radiotherapy. In 2019 the ECF continued its Marie Curie Legacy Campaign, which engages with national media, patients and decision makers to illustrate the benefits of radiotherapy and call for optimisation of radiotherapy provision in Europe and beyond. The dialogue with the European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR) advanced regulatory affairs. COCIR, the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) and ESTRO jointly developed a publication entitled “Guidelines for manufacturers” to meet the requirements of article 78.2 of the Basic Safety Standards (BSS) Directive (96/29/Euratom), which sets out standards for radiation protection in member states. The guidelines, developed also with the cooperation of the Association of the Heads of the European Radiological protection Competent Authorities (HERCA), provide guidance regarding the compilation of information on radiological risk in an easy-to-use document. This publication addresses undertakings to help with the performance of risk evaluation studies in radiotherapy departments, as required by articles 63 and 78.2 of the BSS Directive. This ongoing collaboration between industry and professional societies, and the open communication channel with competent authorities for radiation protection, contribute to improve further medical radiation protection for the betterment of healthcare.

Guidelines accessible : www.cocir.org/media-centre/position-papers/article/template-for-bss1-article-78- information-on-equipment.html

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