The contribution of the first Department of hygiene to the formation and development of domestic preventive medicine in Russia

The article highlights the historical aspects of teaching hygiene in the Military Medical (former Medical and Surgical) Academy from the moment of its formation to the present. The actual information about the history of education and formation of the Department of General, Military-Land and Naval Hygiene as the first department of hygiene in Russia and the first department of medical profile specializing in the training of doctors for the Army and Navy at the Academy is convincingly presented to a wide range of readers. The scientific, educational, methodological and practical activities of the staff of the department in the formation and development of preventive medicine in our country as a whole and its armed forces are shown. Biographical information is given about Alexey Petrovich Dobroslavin, the founder of national hygiene as a science and as an independent academic discipline, a talented researcher, a pioneer of military hygiene and a well–known public figure. The contribution of Viktor Alexandrovich Levashev, as the largest specialist in the field of disinfection of that time, who developed and implemented the system of establishment of disinfection services in Russian cities, who created a domestic school for training disinfection specialists, was noted. The assessment of the activity of the department under the leadership of Professor Grigory Vitalievich Khlopin is presented. Textbooks and manuals prepared and published during this period laid the foundations for teaching hygiene in the country’s universities, and the drafts of many documents developed were subsequently used in domestic sanitary legislation. A huge contribution to the development of domestic preventive medicine by Fyodor Grigoryevich Krotkov, who during his professional activity was rightfully called the universally recognized head of Soviet hygienists, is shown. His work on the creation and improvement of the system of sanitary and hygienic support of troops during the Great Patriotic War and the development of radiation hygiene in the country is invaluable. The achievements and merits of the staff of the department in the post-war years are summarized, its activities at the present stage are reflected.

Contribution:
Kuznetsov S.M. — the concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, statistical processing, writing a text;
Terentyev L.P. — collection and processing of material, writing a text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version. 

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest. 

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship. 

Received: July 18, 2022 / Accepted: October 3, 2022 / Published: October 23, 2022