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This article, written by Itai Bavli of the University of British Columbia, was originally published in The Conversation and is republished here with permission:
On February 9, 2001, the Vancouver Sun published an article about Nancy Riva, who lost her two brothers and who was diagnosed with cancer as a result of a received thymus radiotherapy treatment as a child – in the hope of prevent sudden death of the infant.
Riva and his brothers were born at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) in the late 1940s and underwent radiotherapy at the hospital from an early age.
Radiotherapy for benign diseases (which do not treat cancer), such as the inflamed thymus of Riva, was a common medical practice worldwide in the 1940s and 1950s. Treatment was considered safe and effective for ailments non-cancerous diseases such as acne and ringworm as well as deafness, birthmarks, infertility, enlargement of the thymus, etc.
In the early 1970s, medical research confirmed the long-held suspicion that in the 1940s and 1950s, children and young adults treated with radiotherapy with benign diseases showed an alarming tendency for the onset of cancer. cancer of the thyroid and other diseases.
In our recent article, published in the American Journal of Public HealthShifra Shvarts and I explored how US health authorities responded to the discovery of the late effects of radiotherapy treatments.
It is estimated that more than two million people have been treated by radiation in the United States for benign conditions. We show how an ethical decision made by Chicago's Michael Reese Hospital in 1973 to locate and examine former radiation-treated patients in their childhood led to a national campaign launched in July 1977 by the National Cancer Institute. NCI) – to alert the medical community and the public about the late effects of radiation therapy in childhood for various diseases.
American campaign promotes thyroid checkups
The media coverage of the Chicago Hospital campaign had a snowball effect that prompted more medical institutions to do the same (first in the Chicago area, then in other parts of the world). United States), resulting in the NCI campaign.
Hundreds of thousands of pamphlets have been distributed in malls in the United States, asking people who have undergone radiation therapy to visit their family doctor for a thyroid test. In addition, television presenters opened their programs with warnings; notices were published in newspapers.
Meanwhile in Canada, an unknown number of patients, such as Riva and her brothers, have been treated with radiation. Interviewed by Vancouver Sun In 2001, Riva wanted to raise public awareness of the problem by encouraging people who could have been irradiated in childhood to have their thyroid checked.
According to VGH officials, cited in the article, the location of former patients was logistically impossible. Spokeswoman Tara Wilson said Vancouver Sun reporter Pamela Fayerman:
"Under the Hospitals Act, records should only be kept for 10 years after the last hospitalization of the patient, so it is unlikely that we will have these birth records, even though people can still call us at any time. hospital to check. "
No systematic survey in Canada
Riva's story raises the question of why Canadian health authorities have not launched a campaign to alert the public, as happened in the United States. Early detection of thyroid cancer saved lives.
The American campaign was known in Canada. On July 14, 1977, a Globe and Mail article entitled "U.S. multiply efforts to warn millions of potential cancer victims, "said the national program to alert the public of the late effects of radiation treatments.
Moreover, in an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine In February 1978, Paul Walfish and Robert Volpé, two professors of medicine at the University of Toronto, exposed the long-term risk of radiation therapy and described the efforts of the US Department of Health, Education and well-being to inform the American public effects of treatment.
To date, no known attempt to systematically investigate the number of children undergoing radiotherapy in Canada for benign conditions and what has been done to alert the public and the medical community of the risks involved. We learn from Riva that in 2001, patients were always looking for advice.
Had Canadian health authorities actually warned the public of the long-term risk of radiation therapy, diseases and deaths could have been avoided.
Maybe some might still?
Itai Bavli, PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (Public Health and Political Science), University of British Columbia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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