A historic first will take place in Paris March 8-10 when Hadassah Medical Relief Association (HMRA), Hadassah’s new international organization, convenes its first conference for members from four continents.
Bernice Tannenbaum, chairman of the two-year old organization, announced that the conference would be a great step in promoting the goals of HMRA-which are to improve the quality of life in Israel through involvement, education and fund-raising.
“HMRA was started in October 1983,” she said, “to accommodate the growing international demand for support for the work of the Hadassah Medical Organization. Through HMRA, those living outside the United States can support the vital care-giving programs of the HMO which have molded the character of medical services in Israel.”
The first group was formed in Israel in 1983. It consisted of American Hadassah members who had made aliya and were delighted to continue their support and commitment to the Hadassah Medical Organization. The second group was formed in Lausanne, Switzerland. Today there are HMRA members and groups in France, Switzerland, Spain, Malta, Gibraltar, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Luxembourg, Finland, the Caribbean, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
ATTRACTS LEADING MEDICAL AUTHORITIES
HMRA’s devotion to the pace-setting work of the Hadassah Medical Organization has attracted the involvement of leading medical authorities and civic leaders in the respective countries, Tannenbaum said.
The overall structure of HMRA permits a constant high-level exchange of ideas between professionals and lay persons, sometimes involving formal medical study and exchange programs between the doctors and personnel of the Hadassah Medical Organization with doctors, visitors, and students of countries where HMRA has emerged, she said.
Some countries have even gone beyond the general support of HMO operations to adopt sponsorship of HMO special projects or programs. Currently these special commitments include France’s support of pioneering work in ophthalmology Argentina’s commitment to innovative work in bone-marrow transplantation; and Hadassah-Israel’s activities benefiting the Pediatrics Department, Tannenbaum said.
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