Nigeria Radiotherapy Safety Audit

Abstract

In June 2011, the new Management at the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) noted with concern that all radiotherapy centres in Nigeria were not duly licensed for safe operation as required by the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Act 19, of 1995 (Act) [1]. Consequently and by the powers conferred on it by the Act, NNRA conducted a national safety audit of all radiotherapy centres, to benchmark radiation safety in line with regulatory requirements. There were 9 radiotherapy centres, 5 of which were established between 2004 - 2011 under a project between the Federal Government of Nigeria and VAMED Engineering (FGN/VAMED Project). Since 2004, none of the 9 had been fully authorized to operate due to their inability to comply with the authorization requirements, albeit some got provisional authorizations of short durations. Common non-compliance issues included inability to meet the minimum complement of the cadres of personnel; lack of requisite managerial commitment and policy for effective radiation protection and safety; no equipment supplied under the FGN/VAMED Project was licensed for importation; and most of the new centres were sited, designed and constructed without requisite licenses. None of the new centres was consulted in the procurement of equipment. These conditions resulted to a situation of unsustainable and ineffective radiotherapy practice.