Ilana Belmaker

Prof. Ilana Belmaker (Hebrew: אילנה בלמקר‎; Ilana (Elaine) Zarembka Belmaker; born 3 October, 1945) is an Israeli Physician, Public Health Expert and Associate Professor (ret.) of the Division of Community Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.[1] In the years 1988-2012, Belmaker served as the Ministry of Health Chief Physician of the Southern District, Israel.[2]

Prof.

Ilana Belmaker
Born(1945-10-03)October 3, 1945
St. Louis, USA
CitizenshipIsrael, USA
EducationDuke University
Known forPhysician, Public Health Expert, and Associate Professor
Awards
  • The Israel Ministry of Health Senior Management Excellence Award, 2007
  • Lifetime Achievement Award – Israeli Public Health Physicians Association, 2019
Scientific career
InstitutionsMinistry of Health (Israel), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Biography

Ilana Belmaker was born as Elaine Zarembka in St. Louis in 1945, the daughter of Richard and Helen Jane Zarembka. Her family moved to Clayton when she was 2 years old. After graduating from Clayton High School, she attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University on a National Merit Scholarship Program, where Belmaker graduated cum laude with a major in Biochemical Sciences in 1967. She married Haim Belmaker, also of the Harvard class of 1967, immediately after graduation. She and her husband were both admitted to Duke Medical School and graduated in 1971, having been elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. She did Pediatrics Residency training at Duke University Hospital, followed by sub-specialty training in Adolescent medicine at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. During her professional training, she developed a passionate interest in social medicine and volunteered at student-run community medical clinics serving indigenous populations.

They moved to Israel in 1974 and have lived there ever since, with Elaine adopting the Hebrew name "Ilana". Upon arriving in Israel, she completed a Residency training in Public Health at the Hadassah-University Medical Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. There she received a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, in 1979. As of 1978, Belmaker is a Specialist Pediatrician certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, and as of 1979, a certified public health specialist in Israel. After a decade in Jerusalem, the family moved to the south of Israel where Elaine became the Ministry of Health Chief Physician of the Southern District, Israel in 1988, while also receiving an academic appointment at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She has participated in many research projects and taught many courses in Public Health to medical and Master of Public Health students and is now Associate Professor (ret.) of the Division of Community Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, with over 50 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals. She established two basic courses for the Masters of Public Health Program: Preventive Maternal and Child Health Services in Israel, and Introduction to Environmental and Occupational Health and also lectures on Ethical Dilemmas in Public Health.

During her tenure, she focused particularly on the development of primary care and preventive healthcare services in the Bedouin sector,[3] with an emphasis on promoting growth and normal development,[4] preventing communicable diseases,[5] controlling infectious diseases,[6] and identifying and preventing outbreaks.[7] Belmaker was actively engaged in programs aimed to reduce infant mortality rates, as well as programs for prevention of micronutrient deficiency among Bedouin children.[8]

One of the major projects she led was an intervention program to improve vaccine coverage among the Bedouin population in the Negev. This program was conducted for 15 years and resulted in an increased vaccine coverage rate among the semi-nomadic Bedouin Arab population – from 50% at the beginning to over 90% towards the program completion.[9]

Belmaker has initiated and took part in epidemiological studies aimed to assess the adverse health effects of environmental hazards, including the impact of air pollution, caused by large industrial plants, on the general population.[10] The published results had a broad public impact and led to a government decision to fund, in collaboration with chemical plant owning companies, a significant and successful project designed to reduce air pollution.

As Ministry of Health Chief Physician, Belmaker had over 25 years of experience in investigations of outbreaks, including outbreaks of bird flu, Legionnaires' disease, tuberculosis, measles, as well as food-borne outbreaks. Her office was responsible for providing preventive Maternal & Child Health (MCH) Services to the population, including the Bedouin Arab population, with emphasis on promoting normal growth and development, the prevention of communicable diseases, monitoring of infectious diseases and early identification and intervention to stop the spread of outbreaks.

Since she retired in 2012, she has served as a Senior Advisor, on a volunteer basis, to the Health Promotion Department of AJEEC-NISPED (Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation: Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development) and is still active in research and teaching.

In 2007 for recognition of her leadership in promoting the health of Bedouin through the development of preventive health care services and partnerships; and in recognition of her leadership in initiating epidemiologic studies of potential environmental hazards in the Negev, she was awarded the 2007 Prize for Excellence for Senior Administrators in Israeli Governmental Service. In 2019, she received a Life-Time Achievement Award for Contributions to Community Health from the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians.

Published works

Prof. Belmaker published over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals

(Partial List)

Excellence and awards
  • The Israel Ministry of Health Senior Management Excellence Award, 2007
  • Lifetime Achievement Award – Israeli Public Health Physicians Association, 2019

Family

Ilana Belmaker lives in Modiin, Israel. Her husband, Prof. Haim Belmaker, is an Israeli psychiatrist. They have six children and 13 grandchildren.

References
  1. stuff of Public Health Program (MPH) Ben-Gurion University, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev website
  2. Meital Yasur Beit Or, Report Reveals: Poor Health of Bedouin Children, Ynet, 8 February, 2009
  3. Belmaker I, Dukhan L, Shahar-Rotberg L, Elgrici M, Yosef Y., Reduction of vaccine-preventable communicable diseases in a Bedouin population - Summary of community-based intervention program, The Lancet, Vol 367; March 25-31 2006, pp. 987-91doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68425-0
  4. Bilenko N, Hammel R, Belmaker I, Utilization of Antenatal Care Services by a Semi-Nomadic Bedouin Arab Population: Evaluation of the Impact of a Local Maternal and Child Health Clinic, Maternal and Child Health Journal, 11: 425-30, 2007doi:10.1007/s10995-007-0193-4
  5. Belmaker I, Dukhan L, Yosef Y, Leventhal A, Dagan R., Elimination of Hepatitis A infection outbreaks in day-care and school settings in southern Israel following introduction of the national universal toddler hepatitis A immunization program, Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 26: 36-40, 2007 doi:10.1097/01.inf.0000247105.45185.13
  6. Belmaker I, Lyanders M, Bilenko N, Dukhan L, Mendelson E, Mandelboim M, Shahar-Rosenberg L, Bitran E, Yosef Y, Grotto I., Adherence with post-exposure Oseltamivir chemoprophylaxis among human contacts of infected poultry farms during 5 avian influenza outbreaks in southern Israel, Int J Infect Dis, 13: 261-5, 2009 doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2008.06.037
  7. Tulchinsky TH, Belmaker I, Raabi S, Acker C, Arbeli Y, Lobel R, Abed Y, Toubassi N, Goldberg E and Slater PE, Measles during the Gulf War, A public health threat in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Public Health Rev. 20: 285-296, 1992/93
  8. Abu-Saad K, Shai I, Vardi H, Belmaker I, Fraser D., Rapid assessment tools for ranking pregnant minority women into multi-nutrient exposure groups, Public Health Nutrition, 14: 379-387, 2011 doi:10.1017/S1368980010001497
  9. Belmaker I, Dukhan L, Shahar-Rotberg L, Elgrici M, Yosef Y., Reduction of vaccine-preventable communicable diseases in a Bedouin population - Summary of community-based intervention program, The Lancet, Vol 367; March 25-31 2006, pp. 987-91doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68425-0
  10. Sarov B, Bentov Y, Kordysh E, Kraakis I, Bolotin A, Hershkovitz R, Belmaker I., Perinatal mortality and residential proximity to an industrial park, Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 63, 2008, pp. 17-25 doi:10.3200/AEOH.63.1.17-25
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