Health is a top priority globally for MASHAV. In the year 2001, cooperation took place
with 26 countries. Our goal is to provide flexible programming, suited to both the specific
needs of partner countries and to Israel's area of expertise. In this way, MASHAV serves
as a bridge between Israel's medical community and the developing world.
MASHAV benefits from cooperation with an extensive network of Israeli hospitals, medical
schools, research institutes and health funds. We are thus able to draw upon a large
reservoir of Israeli experts in all fields, for activities both in Israel and in host countries.
Our close partnership with Israel's medical establishment, facilitated and coordinated by
our permanent, in-house medical advisor, enables MASHAV to implement programming
with a high degree of speed and flexibility.
In the year 2001, MASHAV's medical activities encompassed 10 courses in Israel, 16 on-the-spot courses abroad, 62 short-term consultancies, 4 individual programs and 4 medical
infrastructure projects.
MASHAV's training activities in medicine and public health are conducted both in Israel
and on-site in host countries. Training activities include our annual one-year International
Master's Program in Public Health at the Hebrew University/Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem
and two three-month individualized postgraduate medical training programs annually at Tel
Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Israel also provides international courses in
a broad range of languages and subjects in Israel and one-country tailor-made courses
abroad.
MASHAV also specializes in turn-key infrastructure projects with long-term sustainability.
Key to such sustainability is providing partner countries with technologies at a manageable
scale. In addition, every project includes extensive training in Israel and abroad, as well as
long-term follow-up and support activities.
Many of MASHAV's health projects take advantage of Israel's strong expertise in high
intervention and crisis medicine. In the year 2001, such projects have included building
a state-of-the-art intensive care unit in a Jordanian hospital in Amman which serves the
poorest segments of the population. This project included renovation of the hospital ward
and of the utility supply to the unit, fully equipping the unit, and providing on-site training
for the entire ICU staff: doctors, nurses and technicians. MASHAV also continued planning
of a Cancer Center for Mauritania which will provide a wide range of hospital care services.
In addition, MASHAV has dispatched Israeli eye-doctors to countries throughout the developing
world to treat preventable blindness and ocular disease. Teams of Israeli doctors set up camp
for ten days to two weeks, bringing with them extensive treatment equipment often unavailable
in the country. During the duration of their stay, they make hundreds of examinations, provide
treatment, train local medical staff and perform over a hundred operations. In the year 2001, eye
camps were operated in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Micronesia, Mozambique
and Zimbabwe.
 |
Emergency and Disaster Medicine
Worldwide, the disciplines of Emergency and Disaster Medicine are becoming more and more
sophisticated and relevant to the operation of medical and response systems for minor and
major catastrophes. A well-planned, effective and well-coordinated Emergency Response System
can save hundreds of lives in the event of man-made or natural disasters.
In light of Israel's
great experience in these fields, we are often asked by partner countries to share our expertise.
In the last few years, MASHAV has sent numerous teams to conduct courses on Emergency
and Disaster Medicine. These teams train cadres of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and
administrators to deal with mass casualty events and to treat multiple trauma patients, sharing
clinical expertise and experience in organizing response to mass casualty events. Theoretical
training is accompanied by practical simulation exercises, sometimes with the participation of
Civil Defense, Firefighters, Police and Hospitals, in accordance with scenarios relevant to the
specific region.
In the year 2001, Emergency and Disaster Medicine courses were held in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Turkey and the Ukraine.
Next: Development Issues: Women and Poverty Alleviation