UDC

94(47).084.9

DOI

10.17238/issn2227-6564.2019.4.16

Authors

Rimma S. Kolokol’chikova
Cherepovets State University; Sovetskiy prosp. 8, Cherepovets, 162600, Vologodskaya obl., Russian Federation; e-mail: retinovka@mail.ru

Abstract

This article points out the lack of historical works dealing specifically with epidemic outbreaks of the “French disease” in the European North of Russia. It is shown that since the late 1960s through the 1970s, in the RSFSR as a whole and in its European North the number of registered cases of syphilis had been growing dramatically. At the same time, the outbreaks of syphilis in the region were multi-focal. The disease was registered not only in large cities, port and transport hubs, but also on the periphery. In such circumstances, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR, and the Ministry of Health of the RSFSR adopted a number of regulations aimed at combating venereal diseases. The paper analyses the methods of curtailing syphilis employed by dermatovenereological and other medical preventive services, city internal affairs departments, and public organizations. The fight against venereal diseases was significantly restrained by the lag in facilities and equipment of dermatovenereological services, the shortage of venereologists in the European North of Russia as well as by continuing in-migration to the region. It should also be noted that the moral state of the late Soviet society was affected by the sexual revolution. Despite this, however, with the active support from the authorities the medical services, administrative bodies, and the public managed to unite their efforts in fighting sexually transmitted diseases, especially syphilis. Due to continuous improvements in treatment, prevention, and educational work, stricter administrative control over anti-epidemic measures and more reliable statistics on the incidence of the “French disease” in the region, it was possible to keep the situation in check by stopping the infection from spreading beyond its source. Since the early 1980s, the incidence of syphilis in the European North of Russia has been decreasing.

Keywords

European North of Russia, “French disease”, syphilis, social diseases, late socialism, epidemic outbreaks

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