Meet radon champions and MHOs Drs. Mema and Sabet

A career in public health and preventive medicine

Dr. Mema obtained her medical degree from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina before immigrating to Canada to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Alberta. She then specialized and pursued a career in public health and preventive medicine. 

“Public health is such an interesting and broad specialty,” she says. “It covers a wide range of areas, because in fact, most of the factors that affect people’s health lie outside of the health-care system. These are the determinants of health, which include factors such as the physical environment, social and economic conditions, and health behaviours. These determine people’s health and how long they live.”

Her inspiration to take a closer look at radon

In November 2021, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) published an interactive map to help British Columbians better understand the health risks of radon.

“We know there is radon activity across Canada, including in B.C.,” says Dr. Silvina Mema. “What this map makes very clear is that radon is more prevalent in the B.C. Interior than the rest of the province, with up to 30 per cent of homes exceeding the Canadian guideline of 200 Becquerels/m³.”

Supporting radon awareness and testing

Dr. Mema and Greg Baytalan, a long-time air quality specialist and radon advocate, have been working together to better understand the risk of exposure and lung cancer in our region. “It was very important to support Greg’s efforts to promote radon awareness and testing,” she says.

Dr. Mema and Greg have written articles, conducted interviews with the media, and presented at conferences. In order to raise awareness among physicians, they prepared Radon and lung cancer risk: Five things to know, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. This article was selected for a special feature podcast, Radon and lung cancer: A call to action for physicians and policymakers.

With support from IH’s Environmental Health Program, the Radon in Schools project was launched to ensure schools in our region are tested for the presence of radon. “As medical health officers we work with governments, both locally and provincially, to advance the determinants of health – the many factors that help us grow and stay healthy. We also raise awareness and bring attention to risk factors so individuals can take action,” she explains.

Normalizing radon testing

IH’s efforts towards raising awareness and mitigating the health risks from radon aligns with the BC Cancer Care Action Plan, which focuses on strategies to prevent, detect and treat cancer, and prioritizes HPV and lung cancers.

“Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Being diagnosed with lung cancer is devastating for patients and their families. Lung cancer is also expensive to treat, and has a high mortality rate,” says Dr. Mema. “But it’s not about scaring people. We need to help make radon testing as normalized as wearing a seat belt, and to support people in creating healthy indoor environments.

“As a medical health officer, I feel it’s my responsibility to support radon detection and management efforts, and to make sure people in the Interior Health region are aware that we live in an area where we can be exposed to radon. Efforts to this point, such as the Radon in Schools project, shouldn’t be a one-off, but rather part of a continuum to normal indoor air quality management.”

Strengthening partnerships and policy

As she looks ahead, Dr. Mema would like to strengthen IH partnerships with non-profits like BC Lung Foundation, school districts and local governments. She’s also keenly interested in exploring how radon policies can be applied to protect tenants, some of whom live in rented basement suites where radon is especially prone to accumulate.

Helping you prevent disease and illnesses

When most of us think of doctors, we think of the professionals who work in medical clinics or hospitals who diagnose our illnesses, treat our injuries, and prescribe treatments.

As a Public Health and Preventive Medicine specialist, Dr. Fatemeh Sabet wants you to know how you can prevent disease and illnesses. She’s one of seven medical health officers (MHO) at Interior Health (IH) who focuses on disease and injury prevention and health promotion.

“As medical health officers, we think about different ways of preventing health conditions,” she explains. “We think about the root causes and early interventions to prevent future – or downstream – conditions and diseases, such as cancer.”

Keeping students, teachers and staff safe

She’s also IH’s medical health officer for schools, from kindergarten to high school, in the Interior Health region. In this special role, Dr. Sabet makes sure students, teachers and staff are safe and healthy.

“Children and personnel spend many hours a day in schools. It’s important that their environment is safe, and that includes the air quality,” she says. “Children are also particularly susceptible to environmental hazards as they breathe faster, are growing quickly and are smaller and lighter.”

While asbestos in school buildings and lead in water sources at schools often capture the most headlines, it’s the invisible, odourless and colourless radioactive gas, radon, that Dr. Sabet wants to see addressed. Dr. Sabet joined the Radon in Schools project team in 2022, and is helping to create awareness for the health risks of exposure to high levels of radon in schools and at home.

To date, the team has sent out more than 4,200 radon detectors to schools around the Southern Interior. “We’ve had great participation from our schools,” she says. “The good news is test results that have come back so far show that the vast majority of schools are less than the Canadian guideline of 200 Becquerels/m³.”

Empowering individuals to live healthier lives

Dr. Sabet entered the University of Calgary’s five-year postgraduate Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency after she finished medical school in Iran. “Deep in my heart, I knew that I wanted to work in health protection and promotion. I felt I could have a much greater impact across a community,” she says.

Health promotion, as Dr. Sabet explains, means empowering individuals to live healthier lives and ensuring our society puts in place the conditions to grow and stay healthy. “I’m passionate about the underlying factors that influence our health – what we call the determinants of health,” she says.

“And one of the most important factors that determines our health is the environment we live in.”

Health Canada places the lifetime risk of getting lung cancer at the Canadian guideline of 200 Becquerels/m³ at one in 50 people, far greater than exposure to other carcinogens that are nationally regulated. Add smoking to the mix and the risk of lung cancer greatly increases. 

“Daily, nine radon-related lung cancer deaths occur in Canada, many in locations with less radon prevalence than the B.C. Interior," shares Greg. "And the only way to know how much radon is in your home, work or indoor leisure spaces is to test.” 

Learn more about radon gas and testing