One out of every six employable immigrants coming here during 1957 had academic training, with engineers and physicians prevailing, but this economic gain for Israel was diminished by the fact that more than 10 percent of the newcomers were seriously ill, the Knesset was told today.
The high proportion of professionally-trained immigrants was reported by Mordecai Namir, Minister of Labor, during a Knesset discussion of his Ministry’s budget. Israel Barzilai, Minister of Health, said that one of the reasons for the high incidence of tuberculosis, mental diseases and other illnesses was the difficulty of arranging medical examinations in many of the countries of origin of the newcomers.
The direct cost of treating such immigrants exceeded 2,500,000 pounds in 1957, the Minister of Health said, adding that the treatment imposed a heavy burden on the country’s hospitals. He reported that at least 500,000 Israelis were stricken in last autumn’s Asian flu epidemic and that 30 persons died from the disease. The anti-polio vaccine campaign exceeded beyond “our most optimistic hopes,” he said, disclosing that only 55 polio cases were reported in 1957, with only two deaths.
Twenty of the stricken children had not received the vaccine, he stated. The 90 per cent drop in incidence of polio, compared with the past five years was “an unparalleled decline,” compared with the United States, Canada and England, where a 75 percent decrease was considered high, he reported.
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