Measures Taken by the Soviet Government to Eliminate Social Infectious Diseases in Russia in 1917-1922 (Based on the Materials of the State Archive of the Kursk Region)

The relevance of the coronavirus pandemic has shown that the state at the present stage is faced with the same problems that the Soviet government faced during its arrival: a surge in social infectious diseases, high mortality, lack of necessary medicines, vaccines, especially in rural areas. Despite the simultaneous spread of many social infectious diseases, the activities of the Soviet government in the fight against epidemics had a positive experience that will allow us to find a solution to today's problems. The purpose of the article is to study measures to combat social diseases in the Kursk province in 1917-1922. The objectives follow from the purpose of the article and consist in the disclosure of historical problems and their solution in the fight against epidemiological diseases in the period 1917 - 1922 in accordance with the normative doc-uments of the Soviet government. Methodology. The work is based on methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as historical-comparative, his-torical-legal methods. Results. In the period 1917-1922 . Kursk province found itself in a hotbed of social infectious diseases. Instruc-tions from the Center for the Organization of Measures to combat epidemics and their prevention were carried out mainly circularly due to the lack of a sanitary and epidemiological legislative framework. Vaccination, to which all categories of citizens were subject, played an important role. Those who refused vaccination were legally responsible. The medical staff kept strict records of the vaccinated. The approval of the "Regulations on Sanitary and epidemiological sub-departments" of 1921, which began to guide all sanitary and epidemiological workers, clarified the activities of medical workers. The Decree of September 15, 1922 "On the sanitary authorities of the Republic" was the main document that determined all the further development of the sanitary and epidemiological service of the country. Conclusions. The measures of the Soviet government in the fight against epidemics were effective enough to ensure the reduction of cases of social infectious diseases in the Kursk province, and subsequently the elimination of epidemics. Thus, the considered topic is relevant in modern conditions of coronavirus.