Establishment of the System of Sanitary and Medical Services for Workers of the Caspian-Volga Fisheries in the Second Half of the XIX - Early XX Century

The authors examine the history of the establishment of the system of sanitary inspection and medical care for workers of the Caspian-Volga fisheries. There is considered the fishing legislation of the XIX - early XX century. It is stated that, despite the approved rules, fishery workers actually had no qualified medical care, the provision of which was entrusted to the owners of the fishing business. The authors come to the conclusion that the supervision of the sanitary condition of the fisheries was not effective due to a number of reasons: unresolved personnel problems, the large territorial expanses of sanitary areas with a lack of vehicles for sanitary doctors, the difficulties of bureaucratic interaction between the Department of Fisheries and Seal Fisheries, regional authorities and owners of the fishing business, etc. The shortcomings of the sanitary and medical services for fisheries, as well as the specific geographical location and natural and climatic conditions of the Astrakhan province contributed to the wide spread of various epidemic diseases. Due to the lack of the public free healthcare system and qualified medical personnel, there emerged infectious diseases, which led to high mortality among fishery workers.