Israeli Health Experts Advocate Preventive Care as National Strategic Investment

A roundtable discussion organized by Forum Reboot brought together leading Israeli health experts to address the role of preventive medicine in Israel's healthcare system and its future development. The panel included representatives from the Ministry of Health, local government health networks, and healthcare providers such as Clalit Health Services. They emphasized that while Israel excels in life preservation, the healthcare system currently prioritizes treatment over prevention.

A key point raised was that only about 20% of an individual's health is influenced by the healthcare system, with the remaining 80% shaped by environmental and social factors. Since 2021, the Ministry of Health has been developing a broad prevention strategy, officially prioritizing disease prevention in 2023, and investing tens of millions of shekels annually in reducing health disparities through local health units and digital health portals.

Dr. Milka Donchin highlighted the "salutogenic" model focusing on strengthening positive health factors rather than solely preventing illness. The Healthy Cities Network, operating under the World Health Organization, has formalized political commitments at the municipal level to address health determinants like education and infrastructure. The network’s urban health profiles, developed with the Central Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Health, help identify gaps and promote equity by tailoring resources to community needs.

Professor Diane Levin stressed the importance of health literacy, noting that about 50% of Israelis struggle to access and understand health information. She called for legislative measures to enshrine the right to preventive services and for formal recognition and training of health promotion professionals.

Dr. Avivit Golan Cohen from Clalit Health Services shared successful examples of targeted preventive interventions, such as lung cancer screening programs that improved health outcomes sixfold within the same budget. However, she noted that prevention is not yet clearly defined as a responsibility of health funds under the National Health Insurance Law.

Orly Malka from the Ministry of Health discussed the current funding model, which reimburses health funds based on registered members rather than health outcomes, resulting in no incentives for preventing diseases. She advocated shifting to payment models rewarding prevention and behavioral design strategies like default enrollment in preventive programs.

Dr. Sharon Levy emphasized the need for local, community-based health promotion, citing culturally sensitive initiatives such as BRCA gene testing for Ethiopian-Israeli women. The discussion concluded with consensus on prevention as the right medical approach but acknowledged challenges in measurement, incentives, legislation, and workforce development. Forum Reboot plans to use these insights to formulate national prevention policy recommendations.