DOI: 10.17720/2409-5834.v6.3.2019.01a
Antonina I. Moroz1,
Veronika V. Moroz2,
1Chita Institute (branch) of FSBEI HE “Baikal State University”
Anohina St., 56, Chita 672000, Transbaikal territory, Russia
2CFSBEI HE “Chita State Medical Academy” of the Russian Federation Ministry of Health
Gorkogo St., 39A, Chita 672090, Transbaikal territory, Russia
The paper discusses the relatively understudied work of the Transbaikal Provincial Department of Health – the organisation of health education. The authors gathered and analysed unpublished sources from the State Archives of the Transbaikal Region and the State Archives of the Khabarovsk Region. The paper employs materials from statistical books and periodical press. The materials at the disposal of the authors show the relevance of health education in Eastern Transbaikalia. This is also confirmed by data on the challenging epidemiologic environment in the region – statistics on the rampancy of infectious and venereal diseases, as well as lung and gastrointestinal diseases among the local population. The paper analyses the conditions under which health education was established in the Transbaikal Province. The authors found that the beginning of this process in the region traces back to 1923. It was accompanied by considerable challenges, chief among them being the shortage of material resources and qualified personnel. Medical personnel prepared reports and held lectures, sanitary courts, and exhibitions. The paper cites statistics on primary health education events, the number of which increased every year according to the statistics. Materials of the health education program in institutions in the Borzinsky District of the Transbaikal Province shed light on the subject and content of said events. An in-depth analysis of the progress of agitation campaigns – three-day campaigns to tackle social diseases, which were conducted in the region during summer in 1924 and 1925 – is provided. Much attention is paid to the history of the establishment and multi-faceted work of the principal health educational institution – the House of Health Education – in Chita in 1925.
Keywords: health history, Eastern Transbaikalia, health education, medical knowledge popularization, sanitary court, House of Health Education
