11TH NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH & 1st GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE

CONFERENCE & 1ST GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE

25th – 27th July 2023

Communicating Radiation Risk

ANITA BINTI ABD. RAHMAN,

MD, M. Comm Hlth (OH), PhD, FAOEMM
DEPARTMENT of COMMUNITY HEALTH, FMHS, UPM
25th JULY 2023

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As Public Health’ professionals, let’s ask these
basic questions to ourselves:

What do I know about radiation and am I

comfortable to talk about Radiation?

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 CONTENT

1 2 3

Radiation The Arts of Take home

Literacy Communication Messages

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 RADIATION
LITERACY
✔ Continuum of learning
Protection
The Science
Principles ✔ ability, confidence and
Effects- the &
Source
Legislation Use
relation willingness to engage with
language to acquire, construct
and communicate meaning in
all aspects of daily living

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 The Science…..

Radiation
• as part of Nuclear Science Theory &
• energy that moves from Application
one place to another in a
• Technology
form that can be described driven
as waves or particles • 9/17 SDGs is
supported by
NST

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Radiation Source & Use

A part of rare earth - use in industries as

an alloying element in electrode
Industry : medical
components to protect from oxidation
= 1:3
IONISING RADIATION

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Radiation Source & Use

NON- IONISING RADIATION

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Effects- the
Relations…
Contamination & Surveillance

ENVIRONMENT

AGENT HOST

Radiosensitive organs

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 Legislation

Industrial Medical
Organisatio AELB MOH
n
Scope ‘Womb to Tomb’ Concept 2004
Understood by all
Document 1 Act
50 – technical > 50
23 – internal documents of
SOP SOP/Guidance/
Circulars

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International guiding documents…

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 Radiation Protection Principles

Justification No practice unless it is justified – Good > Harm

[Benefit outweigh risk]

Optimization Magnitude of individual dose, number of

people exposed & likelihood of incurring
exposure is kept ALARA

Dose Limits Applied in planned situation →avoid excess of

dose limits
* exception in:
• person involved in emergency exposure;
• exposure from natural background radiation
• exposure from medical practice

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 Proposed Risk
Governance concept

• International Risk
Governance Council (IRGC)
• independent non-profit
foundation based in
Switzerland
• mission to improve the
management of emerging
and systemic risks that have
or could have impacts on
human and environmental
health, the economy and
society, and overall
sustainability.

Model of Risk Management. Source: ISO 31.000:2018

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 THE ARTS OF
COMMUNICATION
How to communicate objectivity in a world filled with subjectivity?

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 British international Internet-based market research and
data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with
operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and
Asia-Pacific

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 Myth leading to Stigma &
Discrimination

After their discharge from hospital,

the victims continued to suffer
discrimination:
• difficulty in finding jobs
• ‘Hibakusha’ endured social • shunned from marriage proposal
stigmatization
• reduced employment
opportunities

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PEOPLE
THOUGHTS ...

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 What is Communication?

Listening
Current Receiver
Sender MESSAGE Process - Understand
• A process on how people use & Perception
messages to generate meanings
within and across various contexts,
• A discipline that studies all forms,
modes, media, and consequences Remember
of communication through Feedback
humanistic, social scientific, and Evaluate
aesthetic inquiry

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 Why communicate?
Depends on the objective

• Wide usage
• natural versus man-made
• Industrial & medical use
To arrive at a decision of
To solve a problem important matters
• In reality, issues with radiation
literacy
To reflect on certain To share, exchange
• People perception practices (reviewing, information/ideas & build
reflecting, planning for the and strengthen
future) relationships

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 When to communicate?
• Planned exposure situations
situations involving the planned introduction and operation of sources
• Siting new facility, decommissioning, disposal of radioactive waste-eg PDF

• Emergency exposure situations

unexpected situations such as those that may occur during of a planned situation, or
from a malicious act, requiring urgent attention
• Transport accidents, lost sources, malevolent use

• Existing exposure situations

situations that already exist when a decision on control has to be taken
• those by natural background radiation, residues from past practices operated
outside the system

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Types of Communication

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 Factors affecting Communication
•Demography
• Age, Gender, Race
•Level of education
•Work experience
•Nationality
•Culture/Customs
•Religion
•Size & member composition

•Communication style

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Resources to communication in radiation

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 Take home message….

- As known, Radiation has been established as beneficial for medical, agricultural, and
technological purposes
- The use must be based on benefit outweighing risk

- At the same time radiation has always been a topic that people are interested and yet
fearful

- Strengthen Public Health professional roles & function in the overall radiological risk
governance

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Terima Kasih/ Thank You

anitaar@upm.edu.my

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