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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Nadav Davidovitch, MD, MPH, PhD, Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, 9th floor, New York, NY 10032, 646-732-3867, nd2166@columbia.edu and Dani Filc, MD, PhD, Department of Politics and Government, Ben Gurion University, Ben Gurion Univeristy, Beer Sheva, 84105, Israel.

While the AIDS epidemic is still spreading in many parts of the world, Israel and the Middle East are enjoying currently a low incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS. According to a current estimate there are approximately 4,200 people presently living in Israel with HIV/AIDS. Yet as in other countries HIV/AIDS raise thorny social and ethical issues. In this paper we will discuss the development of the Israeli response to HIV/AIDS in non-Jewish migrant workers. While Israel is a country of immigration, the historical goal of assuring the Jewish people the right to self-determination created a different approach to Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants, as established by the Israeli Law of Return. This has a crucial implication in the health realm as migrant workers are not entitled to the same health benefits given to Israeli citizens according to the Israeli National Health Insurance Law. The paper will explore the interaction among Israeli immigration regime, public health policy and human rights activists' claim and struggles. The ambivalence and contradictions among the State and civil society, the local and the national level in their way to cope with HIV/AIDS in migrant workers will be explicated and analyzed.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess salient issues in the 25 year history of HIV/AIDS in Israel

Keywords: History, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation