The Government of Panama informed the IAEA on 22 May about the accident, reported that 28 patients have been affected, and requested IAEA's assistance under the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, to which Panama is a party.

The assistance to be provided by the expert mission will include:

• ensuring that the radiation source(s) involved in the accident is (are) in a safe and secure condition;

• evaluating the doses incurred by the affected patients, inter alia, by analysing the treatment records and physical measurements;

• undertaking a medical evaluation of the affected patients' prognosis and treatment, taking into account, inter alia, the autopsy findings for those who died; and

• identifying issues on which the IAEA could offer to provide and/or co-ordinate assistance to minimize the consequences of the accident.

The team, which includes senior experts in radiology, radiotherapy, radiopathology, radiation dosimetry and radiation protection from France, USA and Japan, and the IAEA itself, will leave for Panama tomorrow, 26 May.