Organization of Syphilis Control in the Soviet Union

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Abstract
Kozhewnikov of the Institute of Advanced Medical Studies for Physicians in Leningrad outlines measures used. Among these are obligatory registration, free treatment and examination, follow-up, epidemiologic work, prophylaxis, health education and legal penalties for intentional contamination. Patients with primary or secondary syphilis are hospitalized within 24 hours after diagnosis and must remain in the hospital for 1 1/2 months for the 1st course of treatment, after which further treatment is administered at outpatient clinics. Mobile teams visit isolated clinics at weekly intervals. It is stated that Mapharsen and so-called accelerated methods of treatment, which were widely used in the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1948, were followed by relapses in 10-17% of the cases and were abandoned! Penicillin is not mentioned. Early syphilis decreased markedly from the 1920''s until 1941, increased during the war years, then decreased 19.4-fold in 1955. Paresis and tabes decreased 150-fold compared with prerevolution figures. Improvement of living conditions, elimination of unemployment and prostitution, steady growth of Soviet culture, a good system of mother and child welfare, and the functioning of the venereological institutes are all considered to have played important parts in this decline. The U.S.S.R. now looks forward to complete elimination of syphilis within the next few years.

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