Establishment and Development of Pediatrics and Hygiene of Children in Ukraine (the second part of XIX century – the beginning of XX century).

This article deals with the history of establishment and development of pediatrics and children’s hygiene in Ukraine of the second part of XIX century – the beginning of XX century. It has been defi ned that the founder of national pediatrics as a science was Stepan Khomych Khotovytskyi (1796–1885), Ukrainian by origin and a professor of Medical Surgery Academy of St. Petersburg by occupation. He was the fi rst scientist who had given a defi nition of pediatrics and had written the fi rst manual «Pediatrics» (1847) applying knowledge of anatomy and physiology of children. It has been revealed that the development of pediatrics and children’s hygiene in Ukraine related to the activity of medical departments of numerous universities. These universities developed the fi rst departments and national medical schools studying children’s diseases. St. Volodymyr University of Kyiv became the dominant university working on the development of pediatrics and children’s hygiene, founding the fi rst department of children’s diseases. The head of this department was Professor Vasyl Yehorovych Chernov (1852–1915), a former student of Medical Surgery Academy of St. Petersburg. He studied at the university under supervision of Professor M.I. Bystrov. Later similar medical departments were opened at Imperial University of Kharkiv (1892) and at Novorossiysk University (1903). After constant endeavors made by scientists, pediatrics eventually became a separate discipline and a fi eld of science. Foundation of new hospitals for children improved the educational process and further development of pediatrics and children’s hygiene. The ways of tackling the mortality of children and the union of upbringing children were developed by Kyiv School of Pediatricians. In 1900 Professor I.V. Troitskyi founded Kyiv Union of Pediatricians and in 1912, Kharkiv Union of Pediatricians. In this article, we have revealed all the importance of the scholarly articles in the fi eld of pediatrics and children’s hygiene written by national scientists and doctors: V.I. Troitskyi, V.Y. Chernov, A.L. Lypskyi, M.D. Ponomarov, V.F. Yakubovych. In 1887 V.I. Troitskyi published the fi rst manual in Ukraine called «Course of Lectures of Children’s Diseases», in which he emphasized the importance of environment, physical and hygienic development of children. In fact, it was the fi rst complete manual of pediatrics in Ukraine. The scientists worked in the fi eld of antenatal prophylaxis, children’s hygiene, dietetics, children’s diseases diagnostics, etiology and pathogenesis of newborns’ diseases and children’s contagious diseases. For knowledge improvement in the fi eld of pediatrics, the national scientists made exchange programs in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and took part in organization of International Society of Pediatricians and I International Conference of Pediatricians in Paris. Their scholarly works received international acknowledgement