Public Health During the Emergency Situation of Disasters and Mass Migration of Population

by Lazar Beinin

Lazar Beinin's book "Public Health during the Emergency Situation of Disasters and Mass Migration of Population" presents the medical aspect of social disasters which took place in Russia and the Soviet Union over the last hundred years. Among these were two world wars, a civil war, famine, and mass emigration and evacuation, none of which were sufficiently provided for medically. The book is based on archived documentary material, as well as the author's personal experience as a medical doctor during World War II. The spread of epidemic diseases and the decline of public health presented herein are far different from those reported by official sources. Here Beinin indicates that irrational political reforms accompanied by social repression resulted in a change for the worse in the conditions of life and the environment. The responsibility for this downfall lies solely with incompetent politicians. Beinin also analyzes the conditions and consequences of the resultant public health crisis and classifies the mass migration of population and its medical provisions during these emergency situations. Examining the harmful influence on public health of nuclear weapons tests and incompetent management of nuclear power stations (such as Chernobyl), Beinin offers recommendations toward organizing preventative measures. His findings are supported through the effective use of diagrams, tables, and photographs. More than a statistic-oriented scientific treatise, Beinin adds a human face to the suffering inherent to Russia's distinctive history.

14 pages, Paperback