Israel-Sichuan cooperate to safeguard health

Sichuan Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

O n June 9， the Sichuan Provincial Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries （SIFA） opened its brand program online — the World and Sichuan Lecture Hall. The program was launched in 2013 to facilitate exchanges of thoughts， ideas and wisdom and was intended to promote mutual learning between Chinese and foreign minds through lively and diverse communication. It aims to accelerate Chinas opening-up process and the social and economic development of Sichuan province， while increasing understanding and interaction between Sichuan and the rest of the world.

Sponsored by SIFA and the Israel Trauma Coalition for Response and Preparedness， with assistance from the consulate general of Israel in Chengdu， the 15th World and Sichuan Lecture Hall was themed “Israel-Sichuan Cooperation to Safeguard Health”. Hong Liu， president of SIFA， and Ran Peleg， consul-general of Israel in Chengdu， attended the event and delivered speeches. SIFA Secretary-General Xiang Qionghua hosted the event.

Hong said that China and Israel enjoyed an age-long friendship. In recent years， Sichuan and Israel have carried out practical cooperation ranging from high-level visits， trade， investment and education to personnel exchanges. While combating and reacting to COVID-19 together， the two have enhanced understanding and achieved greater friendship and cooperation.

“By jointly hosting the 15th World and Sichuan Lecture Hall， we were to add fresh energy to our bilateral cooperation and make more contributions to the building of Sichuan-Israel health exchange mechanism，” Hong said. “SIFA， as always， is committed to the promotion of two-way exchanges， to expanding and facilitating practical cooperation in various fields and to increasing understanding between the people of Sichuan and Israel.”

Consul-General Ran Peleg said that since the launch of the Consulate General of Israel in Chengdu， it has been good partners with SIFA， with close ties and fruitful results in culture， education， mutual visits and sister-city construction. They have jointly explored new cooperation opportunities.

Israel has made great achievements and maintained fruitful exchanges and cooperation with Sichuan in the medical and healthcare fields. It is hoped that in the future， Israel will work hand-in-hand to carry out more practical cooperation with Sichuan in more fields， Peleg said.

Besides the main venue in Chengdu， there were sub-venues in Meishan and Suining to jointly organize the 15th World and Sichuan Lecture Hall. About 100 participants including officials of health systems， medical personnel， community workers， cadres and volunteers engaging in emergency rescue and relief， from the provincial level to the municipal level of Chengdu， Meishan and Suining， gathered online to promote Sichuan-Israel cooperation and foster a healthy state of mind.

The Israel Trauma Coalition for Response and Preparedness invited Dr. Naomi L. Baum， who holds a PhD in psychology， and Tal PasternakMagnezi， an expert in emotional and mental trauma treatment， to be online guest lecturers of the 15th World and Sichuan Lecture Hall. Dr. Baum lectured on stress， trauma and resilience， while Ms. Magnezi lectured on compassion fatigue and secondary traumatization.

Both lecturers had online interactions with participants. Dr. Baum elaborated on the occurrence and characteristics of stress and trauma， explained the corresponding reactions and adjustments and introduced the practice of developing resilience to reduce stress and trauma. Ms. Magnezi started her lecture by citing Victor Frankl： “That which is to give light must endure burning.” She introduced compassion fatigue， occupational burnout and related symptoms， then analyzed the way to nurture psychological resilience through selfcare practices to create new paths of renewal between burnout and resilience.

Both lecturers interacted with the audience by raising questions such as“What do I do to keep my spirits up when blue” and suggesting writing down three things one is grateful for. This allowed the participants to communicate with each other and draw strength and encouragement from one another.

In organizing the Lecture Hall， SIFA directed its people-to-people diplomatic work to emphasize caring for the mental health of front-line staff in epidemic prevention and control. It is a worthy attempt to enhance peoples awareness of mental health， advocate social concern and support for mental health. It is also a concrete measure to promote communication， cooperation and understanding between Sichuan and Israel. During the Q&A session， participants responded warmly to the Israeli experts by sharing their thoughts and difficulties about their work， which had brought greater understanding.