If Nuclear Medicine is playing a key role in the current imaging revolution going on for new diagnostics, it remains a complex discipline to be explained to all stakeholders. Very few people are aware of all the workings of this technique. Moreover, even less know about the high potential of radiolabeled molecules in therapeutic applications, which may change the way of treating cancer patients in a very near future.
The newly Working Group recently created by the NMEu assembly has as a task to provide all relevant information regarding Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging industry to all communities: European Union Commission, EU governments, drug agencies, physicians, patient groups and public in general. NMEu, through this Working Group, must also be able to provide the accurate scientific information to journalists that will relay it in the press.
This information covers all aspects of Nuclear Medicine, and in particular:
- the principle of radioactivity used in healthcare, including explanations about all the techniques and the biology behind the application forms, as well as showing advantages, limitations and risks of such technologies
- the radiopharmaceutical tracers and drugs manufacturing, including the tools used to generate the radionuclides, such as reactors, accelerators, generators, up to individual patient dose delivery
- the imaging processing by explaining all different imaging techniques including the new hybrid cameras, and the advantages of such modalities compared to others
- the potential benefits of Nuclear medicine for patients, in cooperation with physicians societies as the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)
- the potential of this technology through the information about tools and drugs under development that could impact on some specific diseases, including oncology, cardiology and neurology.
It is obvious that depending of the target audience the vocabulary of the information will have to be adapted. The role of this Working Group will be to take in account this constraint when the information is disseminated, helping to make this science accessible to the general public. It will be also the role of this Working Group to rectify misinterpretations and incorrect statements in the public press that have been damageable to this field in the past due to wrong non funded statements as soon as the word radioactivity is mentioned.
This working group is evaluating all potential communication tools from press release content to web pages, from articles to books or broadcasting, and make use of them. It will provide individual very specific figures or make exhaustive updated databases available, when not directly possible then at least via links to other societies. It will also provide complete and updated European directories for sites and experts in this field.
Philippe Van Put, Chairman IRE, Belgium
Maryam Khodaverdi, Vice-Chair Philips, The Netherlands
Angel Hijos, NMEu VP & Supervisor Lilly, France
Catherine Barde BlueEarth Diagnotics, UK
Mart Jan Blauwhoff Curium Group, Germany
Rudy Couwenbergh ISI- Isotopes Services International, Belgium
David Crunelle NMEu Communication
Harrison Vranket Transrad, Belgium
Jean-Michel Geets IBA Radiopharma Solutions, Belgium
Ira Goldman Lantheus Medical Imaging, Ireland
Rachel Levine AAA, France
Geraldine Libotte Trasis, Belgium
Matthew Morrison GE Healthcare, UK
Ludovic Wouters ANMI-Telix Pharma, Belgium
