The SFRY experience in combating the Variola vera epidemic in 1972: The significance of historical heritage for ex-Yugoslav republics in the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic in early 2020 reminded many people in the Balkans of the somewhat forgotten case of Variola vera (small pox) epidemic in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in 1972. The example of the former Yugoslav state, which managed to conduct fast and effective vaccination of about 18 million citizens and declare the end to the epidemic within two months, has been increasingly emphasized in public. By contrast, the ex-Yugoslav republics have been fighting the (COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years, unsuccessfully for the most part. In this context, the experience of the former SFRY could be valuable and instructive for the successor states in the fight against the current pandemic. In this paper, the author attempts to provide an insight into the regulations that were in force in the SFRY before, during and after the outbreak of the Variola Vera epidemic, both at the federal level and in individual republics. Taking into consideration the historical and political circumstances and the development of new technologies from 1972 to the present time, the author aims to address the following question: is the legal framework of a state the decisive factor in combating serious infectious diseases, or may the non-legal factors prevail over legal regulation and dictate the direction of the epidemic?