Cape Town - Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine (HCW4P) SA have for three days gathered at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, in protest over Discovery Health hosting the Future of Health (FOH) Summit and Leadership Symposium with Israeli-institutions, more notably Israel’s largest medical centre – Sheba Medical Centre and Israel’s Health Ministry.
The three-day summit commenced on Sunday evening.
At the hotel entrance, healthcare workers stood in protest, with the words “Discovery, is this the future of healthcare?” juxtaposed with images of a devastated health infrastructure in ruins in Gaza due to Israeli bombardment.
HCW4P SA chairperson, Dr Saadiq Moolla, said concerns were raised with Discovery CEO Dr Ron Whelan.
“FOH is an organisation that was formed in Israel, it’s led by Israeli healthcare workers and administrators and speakers, the leadership mainly come from Israel even though it portrays itself as an international organisation. He said some of the speakers were reservists in the Israeli military and working in collaboration with the military as well as the Israeli Health Ministry.
Moolla said the organisation called for Discovery Health’s withdrawal from FOH or for the suspension of the Israeli Health Ministry from FOH until Israel complies with international law and all the UN resolutions on Palestine.
HCW4P SA Western Cape events chair, Dr Samah El-Boraei said: “We don’t really understand why, at a time where Israel is on trial for plausible genocide, when there’s crimes of apartheid being lodged against Israel, where many humanitarian organisations have come out and said there’s apocalyptic destruction of the health care system, how you as Discovery Health can then host this conference, the Future of Health conference where it was actually essentially founded at a conference in Sheba Medical Centre.”
Sheba Medical Centre introduced a “Returning to Life” Rehabilitation Centre for War Casualties, a ward for the treatment of Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza.
Chairperson of the Rehabilitation Division, Professor Israel Dudkiewicz, said: “The most challenging thing was how we can take in these soldiers and have them feel that we care and we want their time spent here to help them do better.”
Dr Ron Whelan, CEO of Discovery Health, said the delegates from Israel were administrators and managers of the Sheba Medical Centre and not from the Israeli Ministry of Health.
“There is, therefore, no direct involvement of the Israeli Ministry of Health in the FOH Summit.”