Healthcare

One of the assets of the socialist system was health care and social security. In the USSR, a model of the national health care system was implemented - the “Semashko system”, introduced under the leadership of the first People's Commissar of Health Nikolai Aleksandrovich Semashko.

Its main principles were:

· State nature, ensuring free and accessible services.

· Preventive focus

· Unity of medical science and practice.

· Continuity in the provision of assistance.

Medical care was provided through institutions on a territorial basis (hospitals, ambulances) and production (medical units, clinics and dispensaries at enterprises). On June 30, 1944, the Academy of Medical Sciences was founded under the People's Commissariat of Health. A powerful personnel training system has been created: university medical faculties, later transformed into specialized universities, and secondary education institutions. All education was free, and successful students were paid a stipend.

Soviet medicine has achieved enormous success, developing the traditions of Russian scientists. Among the outstanding cardiologists are Georgy Lang, Alexander Myasnikov, Evgeny Chazov, Vladimir Burakovsky, Alexander Bakulev, Leo Bockeria. Nikolai Amosov worked at the intersection of disciplines. In surgery - Alexander Vishnevsky, neurosurgery - Nikolay Burdenko, transplantology - Valery Shumakov, ophthalmology - Svyatoslav Fedorov, traumatology - Gavriil Ilizarov, treatment of atherosclerosis - Nikolay Anichkov. The first doctor-cosmonaut was Boris Egorov (flight October 12, 1964). Lev Zilber and Zinaida Ermolyeva distinguished themselves in virology and infection control. Ermolyeva created a drug against cholera and domestic penicillin, which saved hundreds of thousands of lives during the war. She donated the 1943 Stalin Prize to the Defense Fund for the construction of the La-5 fighter.

The world's first Institute of Blood Transfusion was created in the USSR. The founder is Alexander Bogdanov (Malinovsky), a doctor and revolutionary. He realized the need for a blood bank back in the First World War. Bogdanov died in 1928 as a result of exchange transfusions (the Rh factor was not taken into account then). In 1942, military doctor Anatoly Kiselev organized the first mobile blood transfusion station, which saved thousands of lives.

An integral part of healthcare were sanatoriums, which made it possible to combine rest and treatment. They belonged to enterprises and were located in favorable areas (Black, Caspian, Baltic seas, mineral water sources). An example is the sanatorium named after. Ordzhonikidze in Sochi.

An important part of the system was the protection of motherhood and childhood. On December 28, 1917, the Department for the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood (consultations, nurseries, kindergartens) was created. In 1936, the Law on the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood was adopted. On July 8, 1944, a decree was issued to increase assistance to pregnant women and families with many children. The Constitution of 1977 (Articles 42, 53) enshrines concern for the health of the generation and the family, and the payment of benefits.

The network of institutions included maternity hospitals, antenatal clinics, children's hospitals and clinics, and preschool institutions. Pediatricians, midwives, and educators were trained. In the summer, there was a network of pioneer camps where hundreds of thousands of children went for free (for example, Artek, where Gagarin visited).