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Doha, October 22 (QNA) - The accreditation granted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) designating the corporation as a collaborative centre in the field of radiation medicine constitutes a national achievement that underscores the State of Qatar’s steadfast commitment to reinforcing advanced healthcare, building capacities in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy sciences, and contributing to global endeavors to combat cancer through innovation, education, and partnership, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has affirmed. Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Medical Staff Affairs, Manpower Planning and Performance at HMC, Dr. Noora Al Hammadi, told Qatar News Agency (QNA) this superb accreditation places the corporation within a globally limited network of reference centres in radiation medicine and constitutes an international recognition of the quality and safety of its services, as well as the competence of its research and educational staff, including in the field of radiotherapy, which remains one of the core pillars of cancer treatment. This accreditation underscores HMC's adherence to the IAEA's standards in ensuring treatment precision, guaranteeing accurate dosages, and enhancing patient safety, thereby shoring up Qatar’s standing as an advanced regional hub in this highly specialized field, said Al Hammadi, who is also Deputy Chair of Radiation Oncology at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR). The IAEA has recently announced the accreditation of HMC as an international collaborative center, named the "Anchor Center", in the field of radiation medicine. This milestone is the result of close and ongoing cooperation between the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC), represented by the Radiation Protection Department, and HMC. Their joint efforts aim to develop the peaceful applications of nuclear technology in healthcare, diagnosis, and treatment, contributing to further scientific and medical progress for the benefit of Qatari society and humanity as a whole. This designation signifies that HMC has become a reference point for the IAEA in the region, providing training, technical support, and transfer of expertise, enabling the corporation to serve as a regional hub for knowledge exchange in treatment planning, dose verification, and quality assurance, yielding benefits for patients and healthcare institutions in neighboring countries, Dr. Al Hammadi underlined. She pointed out that one of the key factors behind this accreditation is the presence of a sophisticated infrastructure in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy, which includes state-of-the-art linear accelerators and advanced technologies, alongside the availability of qualified national competencies in medical physics, radiation engineering, and therapeutic technologies. This, she said, is complemented by high-precision systems for quality assurance, device calibration, and dose monitoring, as well as an outstanding record in education, training, and research, supported by the IAEA. HMC has closely collaborated with MECC in developing oversight and regulatory frameworks germane to leveraging radiation in diagnosis and treatment, she highlighted. Dr. Al Hammadi further indicated that HMC has ensured full compliance with national radiation protection standards, asserting that this collaboration has also contributed to the development of joint training programs for practitioners in the areas of radiation medicine and radiotherapy, thereby bolstering the IAEA's confidence in the national system. HMC has maintained a years-long collaboration with the IAEA across multiple domains, including nuclear medicine, medical physics, and radiotherapy, she noted. Within the field of radiotherapy, Dr. Al Hammadi pointed out that HMC has participated in IAEA research projects and training programs related to dose measurement, treatment planning verification, and quality management in radiotherapy accelerators, in addition to taking part in the Rays of Hope Initiative, which aims to broaden cancer treatment services in developing countries. She spoke about the extensive capabilities available at HMC in the field of radiation medicine, emphasizing that the corporation is equipped with advanced infrastructure encompassing positron emission tomography (PET) scanners and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) systems that enable high-precision diagnostics. HMC's state-of-the-art radiotherapy units leverage multi-energy linear accelerators, in addition to intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) technologies, Dr. Al Hammadi said. She highlighted the availability of three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) treatment planning systems, designed to ensure precise dose delivery to the tumor while safeguarding surrounding healthy tissue, underscoring HMC's commitment to excellence in both diagnosis and treatment. HMC bets on adaptive radiotherapy (ART), one of the most advanced technologies globally, in which the treatment plan is updated daily according to actual anatomical changes, ensuring greater precision and enhanced protection of healthy tissue, providing specialized medical physics and dosimetry laboratories, alongside high-precision quality assurance (QA) programs that comply with the IAEA's standards and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Dr. Al Hammadi outlined. She stated that the primary beneficiaries of HMC's accreditation as the Anchor Center in radiation medicine are the patients themselves, as this recognition translates into continuous optimization in the quality of diagnostics and radiotherapy treatment according to the IAEA's standards. Through this role, she said, HMC has become a role model in enforcing the highest standards of safety and precision in radiation dosing. This, Al Hammadi added, implies more effective and safer treatment for patients and also enables the enhancement of training and professional development programs for medical and technical staff within the corporation. This, in turn, directly contributes to the improvement of service quality delivered to patients throughout the various stages of treatment. Consequently, this accreditation represents not only institutional excellence but also a direct investment in patient health and the advancement of radiotherapy care in Qatar and the region (QNA).
