p By 1950 these objectives of the Five-Year Plan had been attained and the number of medical institutions, hospital beds and doctors exceeded the pre-war number.

p The next Five-Year Plan contained provisions for further 30 consolidating and expanding the material and technical base of public health and for enhancing the quality of medical aid by speeding up specialisation.

p In 1955, as a result of the successful fulfilment of the five-year plans, the country already had more than 340,000 doctors, close to one million junior medical workers and almost 1,300,000 hospital beds.

p The important organisational measures of that period included the unification of dispensaries and polyclinics witli hospitals. Since then (1947-48) the so-called unified hospital consisting of a hospital proper and a polyclinic has become the basic medical institution in the USSR. This has made it possible not only to improve the quality of medical aid, but also to enhance the skills of the physicians.

p During the same period the administration of health protection was also reorganised in the countryside. The district public health boards were abolished as the basic administrative bodies in rural areas, and all organisational and economic functions connected with managing public health institutions were transferred to unified district hospitals. The doctor in charge of such a district hospital became the chief physician of the district and was responsible for the work not only of the hospital, as the chief medical institution, but also for that of all the other medical institutions of the district.

p Particularly important in improving the health of the population were the decisions of the Party and Government on increasing social aid. The 1956 Session of the USSR Supreme Soviet passed a law on state pensions, which considerably increased the pensions and reduced the pensionable age. At the same time a decision was taken to reduce the workday preceding restdays and holidays by 2 hours; subsequently this decision was followed by the introduction of the 5-day workweek in the majority of enterprises. Also very important to public health were the enactment on increasing maternity leave from 77 to 112 days and other decisions that contributed to raising the living standards of the people and improving public health.

p The postwar period has been characterised by increased international activity of Soviet public health workers. It is well-known that the Soviet Union was one of the founders and has been one of the most authoritative members of the World Health Organisation founded after the Second World 31 War. The Soviet medical people have expanded their international contacts. More and more of them are taking part in national and international scientific medical congresses and symposiums.

p One of the most important events in the development of Soviet health protection was the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1961) which adopted a new Programme of the Communist Party in which questions of public health occupied an important place. The public health objectives envisaged in the New Programme logically ensued from those set up by the Party before, the prophylactic trend given first priority. The construction of a substantial material and technical base of public health made it possible to achieve such aims as providing all the population of the towns and countryside with highly-skilled and specialised medical care and dispensary services.

p Special importance is now attached to developing specialised medical aid and to establishing large medical treatment and research institutions with up-to-date equipment.

p At its session in June 1968 the USSR Supreme Soviet considered the problem of the further development of public health services in the USSR. Concrete measures aimed at attaining the objectives posed were elaborated.

The Decision adopted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the USSR Council of Ministers on July 5, 1968, On Measures for Further Improving Public Health and Developing Medical Science in the Country gave special attention to further improving the quality of medical aid and health protection. The tasks set include a decrease in general and infectious disease incidence and traumatism, improvement of the living and working conditions, an improvement of general sanitation and of the work of hospitals, and sanitary and prophylactic institutions, and introduction of the latest achievements of medical science and scientific organisation of labour into public health practices. With this end in view, an expansion of the material and technical base of public health is envisaged and the construction of large specialised hospitals and medical centres planned. Interregional and republican centres of most important forms of specialised medical care will be built and further enlargement and modernisation of city and rural hospitals, polyclinics and dispensaries carried out. The sanitary and antiepidemic centres, and also the research 32 institutions, are likewise to be enlarged and provided with up-to-date’equipment. Considerable attention is given to working out long-term plans for developing the most important brandies and trends of medical science (prognosis). The Decision contains provisions for increasing state allocations for medical aid and medical science. Improvement of medical aid, further development of specialisation, the construction of large hospitals and first aid centres, both in towns and rural localities, further expansion in the production of medicines and various medical equipment, such are the main tasks as regards public health posed by the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.