Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic
The programme for combatting venereal diseases in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany (SOZ), the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Polish Peoples’ Republic (PPR) after the Second World War was adopted from the Soviet healthcare model. In order to maintain the spread of infections, both coun...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Rīgas Stradiņa universitāte
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Acta Medico-Historica Rigensia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dspace.rsu.lv/jspui/bitstream/123456789/3350/1/amhr.2020.XIII.58_82.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818394069819195392 |
|---|---|
| author | Marcin Orzechowski Maximilian Schochow Florian Steger |
| author_facet | Marcin Orzechowski Maximilian Schochow Florian Steger |
| author_sort | Marcin Orzechowski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The programme for combatting venereal diseases in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany (SOZ), the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Polish Peoples’ Republic (PPR) after the Second World War was adopted from the Soviet healthcare model. In order to maintain the spread of infections, both countries introduced specific legislation. The analysis of the regulations shows several similarities, such as establishment of easy access to anti-venereal health services, interruption of the chain of infection, and special treatment of individuals who constituted a danger of spreading the infection through compulsory hospitalisation. However, some differences are also visible. In the PPR, the decision about compulsory hospitalisation was left to individual evaluation of the attending physician. Closed venereology facilities or reformatories for treatment of venereal diseases, which existed in the GDR, were not established through legal regulations in the PPR. Since 1964, Polish law specifically targeted prostitutes and alcoholics as sources of spreading venereal diseases. These groups were not mentioned in the German legal acts. Analysis of praxis of compulsory commitment in the SOZ and GDR shows that mostly young women characterized as “drifters” were sent to closed venereology wards with breach of legal regulations. The number of prostitutes constituted only a very small fraction. In the PPR, the data from contemporary literature also indicates a considerable number of young women, the so-called “drifters”, committed to venereology ward. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T05:55:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-666f972fc49b44c695c16235bdfa2042 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1022-8012 2592-818X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T05:55:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Rīgas Stradiņa universitāte |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Medico-Historica Rigensia |
| spelling | doaj.art-666f972fc49b44c695c16235bdfa20422022-12-21T23:14:36ZengRīgas Stradiņa universitāteActa Medico-Historica Rigensia1022-80122592-818X2021-02-0113588210.25143/amhr.2020.XIII.04Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ RepublicMarcin Orzechowski0Maximilian Schochow1Florian Steger2Ulm UniversityUlm UniversityUlm UniversityThe programme for combatting venereal diseases in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany (SOZ), the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Polish Peoples’ Republic (PPR) after the Second World War was adopted from the Soviet healthcare model. In order to maintain the spread of infections, both countries introduced specific legislation. The analysis of the regulations shows several similarities, such as establishment of easy access to anti-venereal health services, interruption of the chain of infection, and special treatment of individuals who constituted a danger of spreading the infection through compulsory hospitalisation. However, some differences are also visible. In the PPR, the decision about compulsory hospitalisation was left to individual evaluation of the attending physician. Closed venereology facilities or reformatories for treatment of venereal diseases, which existed in the GDR, were not established through legal regulations in the PPR. Since 1964, Polish law specifically targeted prostitutes and alcoholics as sources of spreading venereal diseases. These groups were not mentioned in the German legal acts. Analysis of praxis of compulsory commitment in the SOZ and GDR shows that mostly young women characterized as “drifters” were sent to closed venereology wards with breach of legal regulations. The number of prostitutes constituted only a very small fraction. In the PPR, the data from contemporary literature also indicates a considerable number of young women, the so-called “drifters”, committed to venereology ward.https://dspace.rsu.lv/jspui/bitstream/123456789/3350/1/amhr.2020.XIII.58_82.pdfvenereal diseasepublic healthlegal regulationshistorygerman democratic republic (gdr)polish peoples’ republic (ppr) |
| spellingShingle | Marcin Orzechowski Maximilian Schochow Florian Steger Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic Acta Medico-Historica Rigensia venereal disease public health legal regulations history german democratic republic (gdr) polish peoples’ republic (ppr) |
| title | Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic |
| title_full | Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic |
| title_fullStr | Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic |
| title_short | Combatting Venereal Diseases as an Instrument of Politicised Medicine: Analysis on the Example of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish Peoples’ Republic |
| title_sort | combatting venereal diseases as an instrument of politicised medicine analysis on the example of the soviet occupation zone in germany the german democratic republic and the polish peoples republic |
| topic | venereal disease public health legal regulations history german democratic republic (gdr) polish peoples’ republic (ppr) |
| url | https://dspace.rsu.lv/jspui/bitstream/123456789/3350/1/amhr.2020.XIII.58_82.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcinorzechowski combattingvenerealdiseasesasaninstrumentofpoliticisedmedicineanalysisontheexampleofthesovietoccupationzoneingermanythegermandemocraticrepublicandthepolishpeoplesrepublic AT maximilianschochow combattingvenerealdiseasesasaninstrumentofpoliticisedmedicineanalysisontheexampleofthesovietoccupationzoneingermanythegermandemocraticrepublicandthepolishpeoplesrepublic AT floriansteger combattingvenerealdiseasesasaninstrumentofpoliticisedmedicineanalysisontheexampleofthesovietoccupationzoneingermanythegermandemocraticrepublicandthepolishpeoplesrepublic |