Southern Urals health authorities’ activities in combating malaria in the first decades of the Soviet power

The paper considers one of the most important areas of sanitary and epidemiological activity of central and regional health authorities - the fight against the epidemic of malaria in the first decades of the Soviet power. It is concluded that a high incidence of malaria in Russia was recorded as early as the pre-revolutionary period, and the medical community took certain steps to combat it. However, malaria prevailed in the first decades of the Soviet power. The causes of malaria spread that led to the epidemic are directly related to the complex socio-economic and political situation that prevailed during this period. In this regard, public authorities and health authorities almost immediately gave the fight against malaria a national character. In an expeditious manner, they developed normative legal documents and action plans for combating malaria, especially in especially affected areas, to which the South Urals can be fairly attributed. The implemented measures brought their positive results, but the fight against malaria was complicated by a lack of funding and, accordingly, many activities were carried out late and not in full. Therefore, in 1930 the fading epidemic of malaria broke out with renewed vigor, which was finally eliminated on the territory of the USSR only by the 1960s.