Uganda has emerged as a pioneer in Africa to champion standardisation of the latest technology used in biomedical imaging for diagnosis and subsequent treatment of various medical conditions.
Uganda, through its standards agency – the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), is the only country in Africa that is part of 10 countries participating in the developing of ISO standards for equipment that use microbeams and x-rays to carry out diagnosis of various medical conditions. At the national level, the UNBS Technical Committee on Metrology (UNBS TC 08) has taken the lead on this matter.
Consequently, international delegates from China, Germany, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America are meeting in Kampala for three days to discuss standards for equipment used in microbeam analysis.
The 25th plenary session of the ISO Technical Committee 202 on Microbeam analysis will take place from 19th to 21st September 2018 at Hotel Africana, ending with the discussion and approval of resolutions made during the meeting.
Speaking at the opening ceremony held at Hotel Africana, the UNBS Executive Director, Dr. Ben Manyindo, welcomed the delegates to Uganda and observed that the meeting comes at a time when a large number of modern microbeam analytical instruments are being imported into Uganda and a number of state-of-the-art laboratories, which have been playing significant roles in advancing research, have been established with these high performance instruments.
“Promoting the peaceful use of the technology and nurturing a culture of safety among professionals is at the heart of the UNBS’s mandate, and constitutes a fundamental element of our work. Simultaneously, we must continue to promote international cooperation in the applications of modern technology. Achieving these dual goals will require engagement, collaboration, and partnership – building with a range of stakeholders from across our societies, scientific communities, and industrial sectors.” Dr. Manyindo added.
The Microbeam technology is used in medical imaging (ultrasound, MRI, X-ray), materials engineering used in construction, agriculture, electrical and civil engineering and earth science.
The Committee has so far developed and published 21 international standards in the areas of Electron probe microanalysis, Analytical electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy and related terminology.
“Uganda, as a Participating Member in ISO/TC 202, has been active for the last three years in the ongoing work of the Committee,” Manyindo said.
The technical committee is made up of ten (10) Participating Members and thirteen (13) Observing Members which include Austria, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, India, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Turkey.