Health services in the USSR

As Malta's participant at the recent World Health Organization Advanced Course in Health Planning held in the Soviet Union, the author had the opportunity of observing certain characteristic features of the Soviet public health system. Health services in the U.S.S.R. are organized to meet the requirements of a specific social system and philosophy, and are designed to provide comprehensive medical care for the whole population through the integration of curative and preventive services at all levels of administration. The basic principles of public health services in the U.S.S.R are highlighted. A number of top Soviet establishments have been visited, such as the Semashko Scientific Research Institute of Social Hygiene and Public Health Organization, the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Surgery, the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics, the Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Institute of Oncology, and various hospitals and polyclinics.peer-reviewe