World Radiology Day 2021: Theme, History, Facts, Significance

International Day of Radiology 2021: Radiology is an essential part of diagnostic treatment services in caring for patients. To spread awareness about the importance of radiology in medical science, World Radiology Day is celebrated.

World Radiology Day 2021

World Radiology Day is observed on November 8th every year. The day is celebrated as a tribute to the great discovery of radiation x-rays by scientist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen in 1895. Radiology is one of the most imminent requirements of modern healthcare facilities. The public is usually intimidated by treatments involving radiology tests.

They fear the results’ outcome as it may lead them further into complicated procedures and expensive medication conditions. To remove these inhibitions and related myths regarding radiology, awareness creation through World Radiology Day is an essential move.

History of World Radiology Day

International Day of Radiology (IDoR) was first celebrated in the year 2012. The collaboration of the European Society of Radiology [ESR], the Radiological Society of North America [RSNA], American College of Radiology [ACR] took up a novel initiative to start World Radiology Day celebrations. From then on, the world has been looking forward to celebrating the day with great enthusiasm.

More than 200 medical centres and institutions at the local, national and international levels around the globe participate in spreading awareness about the day. The predecessor to the event came when the European Society of Radiology began the European Day of Radiology on February 10th, 2011. This event, however, did not successively take place every year henceforth.

The World Radiology Day celebrations quickly replaced it. Before that, a significant decision to change the celebration dates was made by this collaboration. February 10th happened to the anniversary when Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen passed away. Soon enough, the partnership passed a formal resolution, and the new date was reserved for November 8th, the time when he marked the discovery of X-Rays.

In their next high-level meeting hosted by the RSNA at Chicago on November 28th of the same year, the change in dates’ formal announcement was told. All the three institutions of the collaboration agreed upon the changing times.

World Radiology Day 2021 Theme

Starting from the year 2012, when celebrations for World Radiology Day began globally, a yearly issue has been put in place. These themes are associated with image recognition by radiology, and the same is listed down below:

• The theme for World Radiology Day 2021 is undecided yet. The theme for the year 2020 focused on ‘Radiologists and radiographers supporting patients during COVID-19.’
• The theme of International Radiology Day 2019 was ‘Sports Imaging’.
• 2018 – ‘Cardiac Imaging.’
• 2017 – ‘Emergency Radiology’
• 2016 – ‘Breast Imaging.’
• 2015 – ‘Pediatric Imaging.’
• 2014 – ‘Brain Imaging’.
• 2013 – ‘Thorax Imaging.’
• 2012 had the entire focus on cancer care. Hence it was associated with Imaging for the discipline of Oncology.

Significance of World Radiology Day 2021

The highlight of World Radiology Day is the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen. He was born in the year 1845 in Germany. He majored in Physics and completed his PhD at the University of Zurich. He is credited with discovering a new set of rays that were entirely unknown till then, which later became famous as X-rays.

These rays were found to have similar intensities as that of light but varied in one aspect. X-rays had higher strength than light beams. Coming to the importance of World Radiology Day, let us take a sneak peek into why the day is essential to modern healthcare systems. One of the most growing fields of medical science and technology is medical imaging.

For diagnostic purposes, radiology and allied medical fields are the most progressive and necessary steps required. These radiological systems are primarily for the detection of ailments in patients. They form the first and foremost steps towards building patient care with a lot of understanding. Radiology is a vital requirement for X-rays, MRI scanning equipment and ultrasound devices.

Radiologists have a very significant role to play in the primary care of patients. Radiological techniques are not just about the medical field; they are a beautiful combination of medicine, technology, scientific principles and artistic skills. In a medical scenario where diagnosis plays the most vital role, radiologists determine the next treatments for a patient.

In case radiologists deliver the wrong diagnosis through incorrect medical imaging, doctors prescribe improper procedures, thereby causing a considerable risk to the patients’ lives. Hence, Radiology’s International Day plays a significant role in spreading awareness about radiologists’ vital role in medical science.

World Radiology Day 2021 Celebrations

The International Radiology Day is celebrated worldwide with good coverage from local, national and international media houses. MRIs, nuclear therapies and radiation therapies surrounding treatment corners are provided with a particular focus.

Many conferences and awareness meets are conducted throughout the day by radio technicians and radiologists. The day also sees the big names in medical fraternities spreading the world on medical imaging value in modern medical science and talks on the importance of radiology inpatient care.

Colleges imparting radiology as a course put up attractive features and career prospects of the course. Many medical institutes conduct webinars regarding the importance of radiology in diagnosing patient’s diseases. The most important part of the celebrations includes awareness creation and knowledge spreading about radiology as modern, digital medical science.

Happy World Radiography Day!