The history of establishment and development of medical care for customs officials in the XIX–XX centuries

Aim. The article considers materials that allow evaluating the way of establishment of medical service for customs authorities during the XIX–XX centuries. Material and methods. The study was conducted in a combination of the main methodological principles – historicism, objectivity, and comprehensiveness of the research. Materials stored in the funds of the Central Museum of the Federal Customs Service, electronic resources allowing access to the Full Collection of laws of the Russian Federation were considered. Results and discussion. Before the beginning of the 19th century there was virtually no medical care for customs officials. The key role in the establishment of medical service provision was played by the «Charter of frontier and port quarantines», which determined the presence of doctors or staff-medics in the staff of Quarantine Offices, who were supposed to provide free of charge assistance to quarantined and quarantine survivors. Later, the emphasis in providing medical care for customs officials shifted to hospitals and military hospitals. Most likely, it was due to the huge length of the Russian Empire borders, along which the customs houses, customs outposts and posts were located. The changes in socio-political system in 1917 had their effect on the processes occurring with the provision of medical services in the country and in the customs office. In the period after the Great Patriotic War, medical services to employees of the department began to be provided in the outpatient clinic created under the USSR Ministry of Foreign Trade, and since 1957 – in the outpatient clinics of the USSR State Committee on Foreign Economic Relations, as well as in the inpatient clinics which were part of the structure of the USSR Ministry of Health. Conclusion. In the Russian Empire, customs houses, customs outposts and posts were located on the border, designed to solve a complex of problems in the border areas. The study of the historical experience of their medical service allows us to make more rational managerial decisions at the level of the Federal Customs Service in the future. © 2021, LLC "IMC" Modern Clinical Medicine. All rights reserved.