As we approach the Jewish year-end, it seems hard to imagine that we have experienced a year like no other.
The emergence of Covid-19 as a global pandemic, the likes of which the world has not seen in one hundred years, has transformed the way we live, work, communicate, and interact socially.
Hadassah International has been quick to respond to the changing world we now live in.
In June and July, we held our Summer Summit, a series of 12 webinars, featuring some of Hadassah’s globally recognized medical practitioners, sharing their thoughts on Covid-19 as well as some of the other groundbreaking developments in research and treatments that they are working on. Over 4,000 participants from our Hadassah International family attended these webinars, demonstrating the high level of interest for knowledge and understanding of the threats to global health being posed by Covid-19 but, on a more optimistic note, a better understanding of the breakthroughs in the way that we now treat many life-threatening conditions.
As a result of the great success of the Summer Summit, we are now working on a Winter Summit. You will be hearing more about this in the weeks ahead.
We recently presented the prestigious Hadassah International Citizen of the World Award to Hugo Sigman of Argentina and Alfredo Rimoch of Mexico in appreciation of their humanitarian effort to bring an affordable coronavirus vaccine to all of Latin America by April 2021. Hugo and Alfredo are longtime supporters of Hadassah International and we are grateful for their ongoing support and the vital work that they do for humankind. Prior to the presentation of the Award, both Hugo and Alfredo participated in a webinar titled “Leaders for Health and Humanity”, which was moderated by Jorge Diener.
In order to strengthen the lines of communication between our Hadassah International unit leaders around the world, we held our inaugural “Hadassah Café” on September 9th. This is an online zoom session between the unit leaders and is intended to be an informal “virtual cappuccino but with a real-time conversation”. The unit leaders shared their challenges and opportunities and how we can work together to produce better outcomes.
At the center of all that we do, is the realization that Hadassah International needs to be relevant to our Hadassah community around the world. Along with our efforts to provide the funding that keeps our Hadassah hospitals “best in class”, our community wants to be kept up to date with the latest developments in the delivery of medicine and we will continue to provide timely information and access to the world’s leading practitioners.
I take this opportunity to thank you for your support and to wish you a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.
L’Shana Tova!
Robert Dorfman
Hadassah International President
