The poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London in November 2006 had political consequences internationally and presented the Health Protection Agency with some unique public health challenges. Professor Pat Troop, Chief Executive of the Agency, will open a session on the response to the incident at the HPA conference at Warwick University today and give a keynote address on how it was handled.
Chief Executive Professor Pat Troop said, “The detection of the polonium-210 that killed Alexander Litvinenko is a tribute to British medicine and science, and to police detective work. I am particularly proud of the Agency's response to the unique public health challenges the incident posed. We rapidly established a monitoring scheme for people and places and this was the scientific evidence base for all our public health advice. This gave the public great confidence in our advice.”
The Agency had to adapt its emergency plans for the particular circumstances of the incident and had first to establish monitoring schemes for people and places. The extent of contamination by polonium-210 had to be measured as a priority and information from the Metropolitan Police provided an indication of where monitoring had to take place. Two hospitals and their healthcare staff were also a major priority and close co-operation with Westminster City Council was also needed because the Agency had to monitor people at a variety of hotels, restaurants and offices.