Samenvatting

The government of Zambia has joined several international co-operatives in order to reduce poverty and improve public healthcare services. Activities concerning nuclear sciences and technology have gained greater importance in Africa during the past decade. Zambia has focused on upgrading the nuclear medicine capability and introducing in-vivo medical investigations using a gamma camera. The project's aim was to initialise a quality improvement project for the hot laboratory of the Lusaka University Teaching Hospital. For this purpose activities concerning the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals have been studied, optimized and recorded in procedure guidelines, taken the Zambian legislation concerning ionising radiation into account.
Due to the fact that the Zambian legislation on ionising radiation protection has not yet been enacted (March 2007), international regulations have been the guideline for this project. Especially regulations of the ICRP and IAEA have been taken into account which have also been the basis for the Zambian legislation.

In order to get an impression of the current situation of the hot laboratory of the department an observation of two (2) weeks has been carried through. Based on these data and the international regulation several hiatus have been identified. In co-operation with the department safety in handling radioactive material was given priority. To initialise a quality manual for the hot laboratory ten (10) procedure guidelines have been written; six (6) abstracts from these guidelines have been made in order to be put in marked places on the Nuclear Medicine department. Furthermore a report of recommendations has been written with argumentation and recommendation concerning the hiatus from the gap analyses. Although the report of recommendation, the procedure guidelines and their abstracts have been well received by the NM department, it is not clear if they will be authorised and implemented on a short term. It could take some time for the NM department to get acquainted with these guidelines and adapt the quality system.

To upgrade their capability and introduce in-vivo medical investigations using a gamma camera the department should expand and renovate, especially the hot laboratory. The current laboratory does not meet the international regulations. Since Zambian legislation is not yet adequate it is recommended to follow the regulation given by the ICRP and IAEA for quality improvement of the hot laboratory. Within this empowerment process it is recommended to continue to optimize and record in procedure guidelines the activities concerning the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals. Co-operation with the Radiation Protection Authority and international radiation safety organizations, like ICRP and IAEA, is necessary.