Israel is a developed western society that is known beyond its borders for its advanced modern medical services. There is no shortage of doctors or health facilities and medical insurance is mandatory. Still - the demand for "alternative" health services in Israel has been growing steadily, as in other developed countries around the world.

Responding to public demand, hospitals and health care centers in Israel started providing "alternative" medical services and using integrated therapy methods. The positive and interesting results that were obtained required new perspectives on predominant views. In addition, a potential for substantial health cost reduction in the public health-care system was found, if integrated medicine methods would be widely used.

That was the background on which medical personnel from Israel's 4 HMO's teamed up with managers of the leading hospitals in the country, and together with medical institutions and organizations of all kinds, have initiated dialogues and exchange of information on the subject. As the importance of this phenomenon became clear, it was decided to conduct shared meetings for physicians and therapists, to discuss the findings, challenges and problems of integrated medicine.

This is how it all began.

There is as yet no consensus on the subject. However, everyone involved agrees that there is room to incorporate integrative medicine into modern health-care when it will achieve better outcomes for the patient. Since it became clear that same problems and principal disagreements exist in most countries, it was decided to hold a professional international convention, which will address the questions and potentials of integrative medicine.

Israel is an ideal venue for such a convention. Its population is made up of people who arrived from about 120 different countries. Israel therefore provides a unique opportunity for observing traditional and tribal therapies that are slowly disappearing. Extraordinary geological phenomena such as the Dead Sea, a unique centre for natural treatment of psoriasis, are also of great interest to the field of integrative medicine. This is also the land of the Bible with all its medical miracles.

Jerusalem, one of the leading medical centers in the Middle East and an international center for scientific research, was chosen to host the convention. Jerusalem is also the religious and spiritual center for millions of believers of the 3 world religions. Could there be a better place to host an international meeting about the connection between body and mind?