More than 700 people attended the First Israel Medical Conference yesterday in Jerusalem. They were physicians, health policy officials, Sick Funds managers, health professionals and the general public. The conference, initiated by Hadassah Medical Organization, with the collaboration of Ha'aretz/Ha'ir local newspapers network and the Israeli medical society, discussed issues between medicine and economy, and between medicine and society.
This is the first time that a conference deals with these issues in Israel on a national level. The Israeli minister of health, the Mayor of Jerusalem, the Chairman of the Israeli medical Society attended, among many other senior people from the field of medicine and health services in Insrael.
The conference was extremely successful, and once again positioned Hadassah as more than just an excellent hospital in Israel. This time, in addition of showcasing the very new technologies we use in various areas, Hadassah was viewed of a national leader in terms of pointing out the main dilemmas of the health services in the country, as well as offering optional ways of dealing with them.
For example – Prof. Mor-Yosef described some discriminatory aspects in the Israeli health services, and called the government to take strong measures in order to repair such aspects. He did not stop there, and encouraged the government to make "Medical Tourism" into a national oriented industry that may bring billions of dollars to Israel. This money can then used in order to improve the health services system in Israel and make it less discriminatory.