Events

Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health was the final stop on a three-week U.S. tour for a highly unusual group of visitors: a combined Palestinian and Israeli delegation of health professionals. Nine delegates—four from Gaza and the West Bank and five from Israel—visited on Thursday, June 10, as part of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

The visitors included a nursing director from a West Bank eye hospital, an official from the Israeli Ministry of Health, a hospital pharmacist from Gaza and a deputy CEO of an Israeli medical center. The trip offered a rare opportunity for them to transcend politics, network across areas of expertise and strengthen regional cooperation, while also learning about the American healthcare system. The Mailman School was the only School of  Public Health on their itinerary.

The delegates said they enjoyed the shared experience and got along well. Said one visiting Palestinian: "If it were up to us, we'd have peace tomorrow."

Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, dean of the Mailman School welcomed the “exceptional group” and led a discussion between delegates and several Mailman School faculty members.

The visitors expressed surprise at the complexity of the American healthcare system, having visited hospitals and health departments in Washington, D.C., Florida, California, Texas, and Kentucky.

The American system, observed Alon Erez, MD, of Israel’s HaEmek Medical Center, “is very complex with many overlapping programs and yet some people fall between the cracks." By contrast, he said, "Every Israeli citizen by law has health insurance."

Other delegates said they were impressed with high-level hospital care in the U.S. but had concerns about primary care. The observations, noted Dean Fried, were astute. She underscored the need for a public health perspective with an emphasis on preventing chronic disease.

“People need medical services sometimes; we all need public health all the time,” concurred Fahmi Hashash, MD, director of Qalqilia Hospital-UNRWA in the West Bank.

The delegates expressed interest in the Mailman School’s international partnerships and programs, several of which were described by Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, director of the Mailman School’s Global Health Initiative and the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs. Some of the visitors hoped to explore opportunities for partnering in the Middle East.

The group warmed to a question about the unusual nature of a joint Israeli-Palestinian delegation. At home in the Middle East, there are many obstacles to collaboration. Even transferring a patient from a Palestinian hospital to an Israeli medical center can be difficult, but delegates remarked that they are returning with new knowledge and new connections.

Said Eli Karako, who heads a medical technology department for Israel’s Clalit Health Services, “Diseases do not have borders. We must work together.”

Participants of the event included:

Israel

Mr. Sharbel Banna
Administration Inspector, French Hospital, Nazareth
Ms. Anat Ekka-Zohar
Division Deputy, Quality Assurance Division, Ministry of Health
Dr. Alon Erez
Deputy CEO, HaEmek Medical Center
Mr. Eli Karako
Head, Medical Technology Implementation Department, Clalit Health Services
Dr. Meir Ran Ruach
Assistant to the General Manager, Medical Risk Management and Quality Assurance, Poriya Hospitalz

Gaza

Ms. Leena M M Eslim
Department Head and Pharmacist, Dar Al-Shefa Hospital, Gaza

West Bank

Dr. Fahmi H S Hashash
Director, Qalqilia Hospital-UNRWA
Mr. Ahmed H A Mali
Nursing Director, St. John Eye Hospital
Mr. Tareq A I Rumhi
Administrative and Financial Director of Ramallah Wing, Ministry of Health

U.S. State Department

Ms. Jenny Eisenberg, Program Officer, International Visitor Leadership Program, U.S. State Department

The Mailman School of Public Health

Dr. Linda P. Fried, Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health
Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, Director of the Global Health Initiative and International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs
Dr. Irwin Redlener, Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness
Dr. Jessica Justman, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine (in Epidemiology)
Dr. Robyn Gershon, Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences (in Nursing) and Associate Dean For Research Resources
Dr. Amy Fairchild, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociomedical Sciences

June 5, 2010