Shafaq News / Israeli hospitals are facing a sharp decline in medical collaboration offers from global companies, as international criticism mounts over the prolonged and intense Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, a Hebrew report revealed on Sunday.
On October 7, Israel launched a major offensive against Gaza in response to a Hamas operation, which followed intensified Israeli actions against Palestinians. Since then, at least 40,878 people have been killed in Gaza, including over 16,500 children, and more than 94,454 have been injured, with 10,000 missing, according to Al-Jazeera's tracker.
Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Israeli health sector officials as saying that some companies have "canceled or postponed" their cooperation with Israeli hospitals because "research coordinators didn’t come to Israel."
This represents “a considerable blow to Israel,” which has focused for years on medical research, as such collaborations are an important source of income for hospitals.
According to previously published data, Israeli hospitals received a total of 822 million shekels (about 205 million USD) in 2021 alone through research cooperation agreements.
In this context, Sheba Medical Center, Israel's largest hospital and a leading partner in international research, reported a "one-third decline in requests for trials from researchers, pharmaceutical companies, research organizations, and academic institutions between January and August 2024, compared to the same period in 2023."
The Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center also reported a 10% decline in international research cooperation requests this year compared to 2022 and 2023, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
Professor Joseph Bekel, head of the Helsinki Committee, said, "International companies have requested to conduct tests and trials in collaboration with Israeli hospitals for many years," but "in recent months, there has been a significant decline in requests."
Notably, the Helsinki Committee is responsible for approving requests from researchers, companies, and academic institutions to conduct medical trials or studies in Israel.