Minister of Environment and Climate Change HE Dr Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie has confirmed that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has accredited laboratories in Qatar as approved international training centres in the fields of radiation medicine and food safety, through a Memorandum of Practical Arrangements.
During his speech at the national symposium on the ‘Peaceful uses of atomic energy’ organised by the ministry on Tuesday, Dr Subaie referred to the initiation of procedures to designate the Hamad Medical Corporation as a “reference centre” to support the IAEA’s ‘Rays of Hope’ initiative, which aims to provide treatment for all cancer patients, especially from developing countries.
He also noted the ministry’s participation in the regional project Contributing to the Global Monitoring of Marine Plastic Pollution under the IAEA Nuclear Technology for Controlling Plastic Pollution (NUTEC Plastics) Initiative, stressing the country’s benefit from technical cooperation with the Agency, through a regional project to support national and regional capabilities as part of the framework of the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC).
He added that Qatar, through technical cooperation projects, established a secondary calibration laboratory to calibrate all types of radiometric measuring devices, which is the largest of its kind in the region.
For her part, Linda Eid, IAEA Programme Management Officer for the technical cooperation programmes of Qatar, stressed the continuation of collaboration between the IAEA and Qatar to support national priorities and peaceful applications of nuclear technology for sustainable development, noting that the Technical Cooperation Programme is the Agency’s main channel to provide tangible support to member states and help them advance the application of nuclear technologies in many fields in a safe manner.(QNA)
