[Rural medicine and public health: the state and ways of improvement]

In connection with the publication of the article "On the rural medicine" by O. L. Sigailo in "Sovetskoye Zdravokhraneniye" 1990, No. 6, we attempted in a proper controversial way to specify some statements made in the above-mentioned paper and give our view of the above problem using our own findings. Primarily, in accordance with the data of Comprehensive Soviet Encyclopedia, a possible permissible specification of the article title was provided which would properly correspond to its contents. In this respect we expressed the opinion that publications such as this should provide a wider description of measures which would characterise the state of current rural medicine and public health. By this we mean a number of demographic indicators, the health status of different population groups, the material basis and its capacity, prospects for development, approaches to health personnel of high and medium qualification. The most important thing which we reproach the author with is the absence of clear-cut statement that the major problem of rural medicine (using the terminology of Dr. Segailo) is how to use the available health resources. And, moreover, one cannot help but express one's opinion on such vital problems as preparation for total medical survey of population, disease-caused temporary disability, the transition of public health to the new economic mechanism, insurance medicine.