The House of Lords EU Home Affairs
Sub-Committee will hold a one-off evidence session exploring the
implications of leaving Euratom on the transport of medical
radioisotopes imported from the EU and used in vital healthcare
treatments. The Committee will also explore the options available
for future relations with Euratom.
Medical radioisotopes are essential for
the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases including
cancers, and cardiovascular and brain
diseases.
The UK currently has no reactors that
are capable of producing the isotopes that are used in medical
procedures, and imports them mostly from the EU. Once the UK’s
membership to Euratom ends there are concerns that we risk
breaking the time-sensitive supply
chain.
The Committee will question the
witnesses on the safeguards needed after the Euratom Treaty comes
to end to ensure the safe and timely transport and delivery of
medical radioisotopes.
At 10:30am the Committee will hear
from:
-
Professor Michael
Rees, Co-Chair of the
Medical Academic Staff Committee, British Medical
Association
-
Dr John
Buscombe, President-Elect,
British Nuclear Medicine Society
-
Dr Jeanette
Dickson, Vice
President, Faculty of Clinical Oncology, Royal College of
Radiologists
Topics the Committee are likely to cover
include:
-
The medical products and procedures that are likely
to be impacted by the UK's departure from the Euratom
treaty
-
Key safeguards in the Euratom Treaty that provide
for the safe and timely transport and delivery of medical
radioisotopes, and the safeguards that will need to be
maintained in the future
-
The implications of a disruption in the supply of
radioisotopes for hospitals and other health providers, as well
as for patients
-
The opportunities for health practitioners or
patients in the UK that might arise from leaving
Euratom
-
Whether the UK should invest in alternative
technologies to produce radioisotopes
-
What other steps could mitigate any negative
consequences of leaving Euratom
The evidence session will begin at 10:30 am
on Wednesday 22 November and take place in Committee room 3 of
the House of Lords.
