Tatyana A. Knyazkina
Far Eastern branch FSBEE HE “Russian Foreign Trade Academy of the Russian Federation”
25 Viluyskaya St., Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683003, Russia

In this article, the organization of medical care for venereal patients in the Far East of Russia in the 19th century is analyzed on the basis of archival sources. Venereal diseases were the most common in the north-eastern parts of this Russian region. The beginning of the organization of medical care for venereal patients started in the beginning of the 19th century with the functioning of the first hospital for the infected, as well as the decree of Alexander I of the 20th of November 1807. The decree of the Emperor marked the beginning of systematic work to identify the causes of mass spread of diseases and to find the conditions for their successful treatment. The study examines the work of doctors and representatives of the administration of the Far East.

In the 19th century, various options were tested for providing medical care to the infected (for example, doctors’ secondments, the establishment of temporary syphilitic hospitals). A search for effective solutions was made taking into account the lifestyle of the indigenous population, geographical location and the medical capabilities of the region. All these decisions were palliative, since they could not eliminate the social basis for the spread of venereal diseases and, therefore, did not produce the desired results.

Keywords: history of medicine, the Far East, medical care, venereal disease