Radiology as a Steward for Quality in Moroccan HealthCare - RASQUAM (RASQUAM)

Radiological imaging is a very important part of healthcare, as it allows to diagnose and stage many diseases. In the absence of radiological quality, good healthcare is compromised and cannot develop. Today, Moroccan radiological quality is not monitored. Important diagnoses may be hampered. X-ray doses may be very high, inducing an unreasonably high risk of radiation induced cancers. In the absence of quality monitoring, screening for breast cancer is even excluded: all international guidelines have quality monitoring as a prerequisite. In the EU, (nuclear) safe and optimized use of ionizing radiation is mandatory via the new EURATOM 59/2013 Directive and university centers of excellence in radiation physics take up the task. We will induce a change in Moroccan radiology by the creation of such a center of excellence in Mohammed V Rabat University. The Moroccan radiation physics team of prof Bentayeb will be provided with equipment, appropriate training, guidance, data sharing and common research projects, to allow first local then national quality and x-ray dose data collection and to develop all skills for breast cancer screening quality assurance.