Background information on Ms. Pnina Eldar.

Pnina Eldar, the Director General of the Eldar Center for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Compulsive Addictions, holds a Master's Degree in Social Work and Public Health Education.

Ms. Eldar is the former Director of Alcoholism Treatment and Prevention Programs in Israel's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the founder of the Israel Society for the Prevention of Alcoholism (ISPA). Her pioneering efforts to highlight the need for recognition and treatment of alcoholism in Israel began in 1974. At that time she made the public in Israel aware of the problems of alcoholism and alcohol abuse among Jews in general and Israeli's in particular. Up until then neither health professionals nor the general public recognized this problem, hence there were no prevention or treatment programs in existence.

The treatment and prevention network developed by Ms. Eldar consists of the following:

• Treatment centers for the diagnosis and ambulatory care of alcoholics and their families.
• A residential facility for long term treatment of alcoholism. This 25-bed-3-month long program, the only such facility in the Israel, was established in 1991.
• Initiation and sponsorship of primary prevention projects, including a special program aimed at Israeli high school students and a peer program involving teachers, parents and the community.

The signing of an agreement with the NIAAA-National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Washington) to promote a plan for mutual cooperation in the field of alcohol abuse and alcoholism; the initiation of a U.S.-Israel program of expert exchange within the context of this agreement.

The convening in 1984 of the first congress on alcoholism in family and community contexts, in cooperation with Rutgers State University and the NIAAA. In October, 1988, Ms Eldar was granted a scholarship to study at the Betty Ford Center at Eisenhower in Rancho Mirage, California, and has applied the knowledge she acquired at the center in her work here in Israel with the ISPA. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the State of Israel, Ms. Eldar received a national award in recognition of her voluntarism and pioneering efforts in developing alcoholism prevention and treatment services in Israel. In 1991, Ms. Eldar brought to public awareness the problem of compulsive gambling in Israel and established three centers of treatment for compulsive gamblers and their families. She also founded The Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Compulsive Gambling. This association is voluntary and it's members are parents, family of compulsive gamblers, and professionals such as social workers and psychologists.

At present, Pnina is focusing her activities in the direct treatment of victims of compulsive addictions while at the same time building public awareness to the specific issue of compulsive gambling.