Israeli warriors on frontline in global fight against AIDS
Conference in America highlights Israeli expertise in high volume, high quality voluntary male circumcisions, effective in drastically reducing HIV transmission to heterosexual men
WASHINGTON — As nearly 25,000 doctors, researchers, activists, patients, and public health professionals gather in Washington, DC this week for the International AIDS Conference, the Jewish state’s unique contributions to fighting the disease are on display.
The most visible sign of Israel’s commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, is at a booth run by an Israeli group called Operation Abraham Collaborative that promotes voluntary male adult circumcision as a way to dramatically reduce the number of new HIV infections. The group touts the dozens of Israeli surgeons, nurses, and health professionals the organization sends to Africa in order to train local doctors to perform mass male circumcisions safely and effectively.
‘We are proud to represent an Israeli team and proud to make a difference in changing the course of this epidemic’
According to the group, Israel is one of the few countries in the world with experience in high volume and high quality voluntary male circumcisions, acquired in large part by the immigration of Jews from Ethiopia and the Former Soviet Union. Experts say studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of adult male circumcision in drastically reducing HIV transmission to heterosexual men.
“We are proud to represent an Israeli team and proud to make a difference in changing the course of this epidemic,” says Dr. Inon Schenker of Operation Abraham Collaborative.
In the scientific community, there is no doubt that the most profound difference Israel has made in combating HIV/AIDS can be traced to the work of one man: Dr. Zvi Bentwich, the 76-year-old head of the Center for Emerging Tropical Diseases and AIDS at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev (BGU).
Bentwich’s groundbreaking research in the 1990s uncovered the strong link between intestinal worms and immune system deficiencies. According to researchers, Bentwich solved the mystery as to why HIV/AIDS in Africa is more easily transmitted than in developed countries.
When there was an influx of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel, he noticed the strong correlation between people infected with intestinal worms and those with severely compromised immune systems.
“Although immunologists knew parasites have an effect on the immune system, it hadn’t been well researched,” he told the Times of Israel after a public lecture at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. “So I began studying non-HIV positive immigrants and then conducted a series of studies, which are my major contribution to science, showing that the intestinal worms do have a major effect on the immune system.”
Since his landmark studies were published, the former IDF flight surgeon has traveled to Africa 22 times to help eradicate intestinal parasite infections through the promotion of good hygiene.
Bentwich describes his work as “tikum olam (healing the world) from the [Beersheba] desert.” The non-profit foundation he founded to combat intestinal parasites estimates that his programs are reaching more than 300,000 Ethiopian adults and children.
“These diseases are not only a medical problem but also a social and economic problem,” says Bentwich. “The solution has to come from educating teachers and children about how to keep clean and avoid getting the worms. The cost to treat intestinal worms is just a few cents compared to the hundreds of dollars it costs to treat more serious diseases.”
‘These diseases are not only a medical problem but also a social and economic problem’
The Jerusalem-native Bentwich has spent most of his life dedicated to public service. He recalls teaching Hebrew to immigrants as far as back as the 1950s with his eventual wife, Tirza, herself an accomplished physician. In the mid 1980s, Bentwich opened Israel’s first AIDS clinic. Today, he is Chairman of the Board of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and a leading advocate for public health in the Jewish State.
Although Bentwich is not a geneticist, he must wonder whether public service is in his DNA. Zvi is a scion of one of Israel’s most accomplished families. His grandfather was the renowned malaria fighter Dr. Hillel Yaffe, after whom the Hadera medical center is named. His father, Joseph Bentwich, won the Israel Prize for innovations in education, and Zvi’s uncle, Norman Bentwich, was the Attorney General in pre-1948 Palestine, held a Chair at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and served as president of the Jewish Historical Society.
