Safed hospital director: "Life expectancy in the north is three to four years lower than that of residents of Haifa and Tel Aviv"

Prof. Salman Zarka, director of the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, warns of severe disparities in healthcare services between northern and central Israel. According to him, life expectancy in the north is three to four years lower than that of residents of Haifa and Tel Aviv. Zarka calls on the government to increase investment in the periphery and change funding mechanisms.

Prof. Salman Zarka, director of the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, warns of severe disparities in healthcare services between northern and central Israel. Speaking at the "Northern Path" conference, Zarka stated that the life expectancy of northern residents is three to four years lower than that of residents of Haifa and Tel Aviv, emphasizing that the comparison is between Jews and Jews and Arabs and Arabs. Zarka described how parents of children with epilepsy had to turn to adult neurologists due to the lack of a pediatric neurologist, and how a breast cancer patient considered more extensive surgery to avoid six weeks of travel for radiation treatments in Haifa. He criticized hospital funding mechanisms that favor institutions in the center, which benefit from higher donations, and called on the government to increase investment in the periphery. Zarka also addressed the challenge of recruiting doctors to the north and the impact of the prolonged war on the hospital, which absorbed 100 wounded within four days during the ground entry into Lebanon. He called for the establishment of a government that would see the north and keep the healthcare system out of political disputes.

Safed hospital director: "Life expectancy in the north is three to four years lower than that of residents of Haifa and Tel Aviv"