<strong> In anticipation of the launch </strong><strong>I</strong> <strong> of the All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run, we publish historical essays on the history of the development of the healthcare system and pharmacology in the cities participating in the large-scale action. Indeed, respect for traditions, support for the old school, the transfer of best practices and a healthy mentoring system are key to the development of a successful future. The pharmaceutical industry is no exception. </strong>
Author: historian, publicist Stanislav Chagin
Veliky Novgorod, as the previously established shopping center of Russia, attracted the attention of traders from all over the world. Goods of various properties flocked into it, including medicinal herbs and various potions, which were brought both from the incomprehensible mysterious East, and from the West, which was close, but also far away for the Russian people.
In the Middle Ages on the territory of Novgorod there were no separate medical institutions, such as hospitals or pharmacies. There were monastery hospitals and healing houses. Lecturers are, in a modern way, the name of doctors, among which were both herbalists and surgeons. True, the main difference between the healers and the doctors was that the healers relied on traditional medicine and, in comparison with their Western European colleagues, had no professional education, and the healer’s craft was inherited from father to son. The people respected and esteemed the healers and always went to them when necessary, and the church elevated such people even to the rank of saints, if during their lifetime they performed miraculous healings of seriously ill patients. From this, the reputation of the doctors only increased. But over time, it turned out that the healers were outdated and did not meet the demands of the times. It was necessary to switch from folk medicine to scientific medicine.
The first military hospital in Veliky Novgorod was opened in 1667. And with the introduction of zemstvos in the 1870s, local health care is experiencing a new round of development. At the end of the 19th century, there were 44 hospitals in the city.
Now in Veliky Novgorod, measures are being taken to develop private medicine. Of the 184 medical organizations today, 146 are private. Health is constantly being carried out in the city among the population, identifying in advance all kinds of ailments. Particular attention is paid to the diagnosis of childhood diseases. Nearly one hundred thousand children under the age of 14 were examined in 2013. Also important is the immunization of children.