UDC 613/614:061.22

At the Irkutsk Branch of the All-Russian Society of Hygienists and Sanitary Physicians

Prof. Ya. M. Grushko (Irkutsk)

In 1966, the board considered the organization of a scientific and practical conference, joint meetings with other related societies, the results of the Saratov session of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, preparations for the 50th anniversary of Soviet power, the organization of a readers’ conference for the journal Hygiene and Sanitation, preparations for the 15th Congress of Hygienists and Sanitary Physicians, and other matters. Nine general meetings of the society’s members were held, two of them jointly with the societies of epidemiologists and dermatologists. The meetings addressed the prevention of intestinal infections (jointly with epidemiologists) and skin diseases (jointly with dermatologists); four candidate dissertations and other matters were discussed. Ideological and educational work among society members is conducted in the workplaces where they carry out their professional duties.

During the reporting year, the regional sanitary and epidemiological station, with the society’s participation, held a scientific and practical conference at which papers by practicing sanitary physicians V. S. Malinovskaya, K. G. Tarima, and others were presented and discussed. Some of these papers are to be submitted to the journal Hygiene and Sanitation, while the rest will be published in a locally issued collection.

Some progress has been made in training scientific personnel. One candidate dissertation was approved, four candidate dissertations were defended, and two were submitted for defense; work on four dissertations is nearing completion. In 1966, society members participated in a number of scientific conferences. Many took part in various commissions and scientific and practical meetings: 52 people, or 65% of the society’s members. In 1966, the journal Hygiene and Sanitation published 10 articles by society members—researchers, dissertation candidates, and practicing sanitary physicians (A. N. Litvintsev, L. Ya. Urbanovich, and A. N. Kilesso). Findings from the dissertation research of O. A. Milovzorova, I. P. Popova, and others were published in various collections.

Society members who work in hygiene departments provide systematic assistance to the sanitary authorities. A seminar on preventive sanitary supervision was organized for sanitary physicians. Ya. M. Grushko, V. S. Malinovskaya, and V. Yu. Andriyanov helped conduct it. A seminar on current issues in environmental and food sanitation was held for sanitary physicians’ assistants. A. A. Chernenko and E. N. Kovrigina lectured at the seminar on health education; O. A. Milovzorova and G. L. Usanova at the seminar on industrial sanitation; A. F. Iossel, T. K. Grigoryeva, and M. Z. Shishova at the seminar for physicians at Young Pioneer camps; and I. M. Zak at the seminar for laboratory technicians from sanitary and epidemiological stations. It is encouraging that these lectures were given not only by medical institute faculty but also by many sanitary physicians. Nevertheless, the departments’ assistance to sanitary and epidemiological stations in preventive supervision remains insufficient.

In 1966, society members gave 92 lectures at the House of Health Education, houses of culture, clubs, red corners, and similar venues, as well as 40 radio lectures, including broadcasts over workplace public-address systems. T. N. Ruzhnikova gave a television lecture on water fluoridation.

N. P. Evseeva, an associate professor in the medical institute’s Department of Health Care Organization, is a member of the lecturers’ bureau of the House of Health Education and gives lectures on philosophical problems of medicine at the House of Political Education.

The society regularly discusses the contents of the journal Hygiene and Sanitation by organizing readers’ conferences; reviews are sent to the journal’s editorial board. At the request of a problem commission of the Irkutsk Medical Institute, abstracts of work by departmental staff are reviewed. Society members periodically contribute articles to the local newspaper. A display is being prepared on the theme “Hygiene and Sanitary Affairs in Irkutsk Oblast over 50 Years of Soviet Power.”

The principal shortcoming in the board’s work is the absence of a functional division of responsibilities among its members for the various areas of activity. Young researchers are insufficiently involved in the board’s work. Plans for scientific and practical activities are not subjected to broad discussion.

The departments’ links with sanitary and epidemiological stations are inadequate, and sanitary physicians therefore carry out scientific and practical work in isolation from researchers. Because of organizational shortcomings, the scientific and practical conference took place without the participation of hygienists. During the past year, the society’s meetings did not address fundamental questions concerning the organization and methods of sanitary physicians’ work. Sanitary physicians even from the districts closest to Irkutsk have not been recruited as society members.

In 1967, the society plans to expand its work to help the state develop Eastern Siberia—a region of immense wealth—and train physicians equipped with modern methods of disease prevention.