Interventional radiology community calls on WHO to enhance access to IR services across the globe
A handful of international interventional radiology groups are calling on the World Health Organization to take steps to ensure patients around the globe have better access to their services.
In an open letter published Monday, authors wrote that the COVID-19 pandemic has, in part, highlighted the “chasm” of racial inequality, healthcare inequity and social injustice that has plagued society for centuries. And those groups want the WHO to use its global reach to help address these longstanding issues.
“These inequalities extend into almost every facet of medicine, but nowhere is the disparity more extreme than in minimally invasive treatment options available to patients in high-income countries and the near-complete lack thereof in most low- and middle-income countries,” Yi Yang, with Aventura Hospital and Medical Center’s Department of Radiology in Aventura, Florida, and colleagues wrote in CVIR Endovascular.
Minimally invasive techniques, such as those used in interventional radiology, can help decrease maternal mortality rates plaguing parts of Africa and other low-income regions. IR can also help to lower complication rates, decrease costs, and reduce hospital stays, in addition to achieving a number of other important healthcare goals, they explained.
The group urged the WHO to include three IR-related items in future iterations of its Global Atlas of Medical Devices, including ultrasound, fluoroscopy and systems for reviewing imaging, such as PACS and electronic medical records.
“We want to be actively involved in this process to support the efforts of the WHO in this matter,” the authors wrote. “We appreciate your efforts in leading equity in global health and look forward to moving forward in our collective commitment to providing all patients with the care that they need and deserve.”
The Society of Interventional Radiology, the European Trainee Forum of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe and the Society of African Interventional Radiology & Endovascular Therapy all contributed to this letter. You can read it in full here.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.