The Centennial Year of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) was opened by a symposium and exhibition held at the European Union headquarters in Brussels. The events were initiated by the Belgian Jewish Doctors’ Group, led by Dr Willy Lipshutz. Mr Nuno Wahnon – Martens, from Bnai Brit International, and Mrs Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, gave invaluable assistance.
This symposium was introduced and chaired by Dr Zeev Feldman, who is the member of the IMA Executive responsible for international affairs and chair of the World Fellowship. Dr Arnon Afek spoke about the Israeli Health Care system and how it addresses disparities and inequalities in health; Dr Nurit Nirel described Israel’s remarkable experience in the integration of immigrant doctors; Dr Avi Abargel described Israeli humanitarian aid in Haiti and Thailand; and Drs Maayan, Moses and Rein described the Hadassah training programmes in Africa. Prof David Katz (UK) and Dr Henri Goldstein (Denmark) spoke about the role of the Jewish physician in Europe and their linkages to Israel medicine.
The symposium was followed by a reception to open a poster exhibition in the main foyer of the building, which was on display from 7th to 11th November. This included the “Jews in Medicine” series prepared by Dr Simon Cohen (UK) and posters were from Beit Issie Shapiro; Center for Health Policy Research in the Negev, Ben Gurion University, Israel; B’nai B’rith; Israaid; Israeli Medical Association; Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel; and Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya, Israel.
The events were sponsored by MEP Emil Stoyanov (Bulgaria), MEP Charles Tannock (United Kingdom), MEP Miroslav Mikolasik (Slovakia), MEP Hannu Takkula (Finland), and MEP Michail Tremopoulos (Greece) and David Saranga (Head of the European Parliament Liaison Department, Mission of Israel to the European Union). Both MEP Tannock and MEP Mikolasik gave warm addresses of welcome at the opening
The IMA posters can be found here.