Code

CODE (from Latin codex - book, collection of regulations). Just as for the state regulation of various areas of the national economy and social relations of various population groups there exist special codes of laws, uniting all the corresponding legislative material, such codes also exist in various countries for the legislative regulation of individual questions of healthcare. In this case, a code is not a simple chronological or other presentation of laws; a code represents specially worked out, systematically compiled, and coordinated in its individual parts legislation. However, in this last area, the developed detailed technique and methodology for compiling such codes as exists in other areas subject to state legislative regulation has not yet been established. Such codes of laws, as criminal, judicial, land, forest, etc., already have their great experience. In the matter of healthcare, however, only some of its branches have been subjected to corresponding development and codification. These are the so-called "food codes," in which are collected the officially worked out norms for the composition of food products, possible falsifications, and methods for examining these products. These food codes in some countries (Austria, Switzerland) have the force of law in the sense that violations in trade or in production of the norms for food product composition established by the food code are sufficient for applying to the violator of the law and to the given product various punitive or restrictive measures. The same term "code" is sometimes also applied to legislation for combating infectious diseases and to legislation on the general organization of healthcare (see Healthcare). In medical literature, the question of publishing general comprehensive codes on healthcare has been raised more than once, in particular regarding the compilation of so-called "sanitary codes," which would unite in themselves all legislation on public and social hygiene. With the great growth of the scope and importance of healthcare at the present time, such proposals deserve full attention, and it is necessary to begin working on such unified sanitary codes or codes on healthcare. In these codes should be collected and codified the laws: a) on the general tasks of state and local healthcare bodies; b) on the structure and forms of activity of these bodies; c) on their rights and duties; d) special provisions on individual branches of healthcare - on sanitary protection of water, air, and soil, on housing and urban planning, on sanitary protection of food products, on combating epidemic and social mass diseases, on medical services, pharmacy, on protection of motherhood and childhood, etc.; e) on the responsibility of citizens for failure to comply with the requirements of this legislation; f) on material resources in this area. In essence, no country yet has such a complete code on healthcare. However, the existing legislation in the field of sanitary supervision in individual countries partly approaches the type of such codes, although it does not bear such a name and is different in content. To a certain extent, this can include the well-known "Public Health Act" of 1875 in England ("The Public Health Act"), which codified all laws and regulations on sanitary matters issued up to that time into one whole - into a single law (see Great Britain). To a lesser extent¹, under the term code can be placed the law on the protection of public health of February 15, 1902 in France and others. A substitute for such codes are the collections of existing laws and regulations on sanitary matters or on the entire field of healthcare now published in almost all countries, where in chronological or other order the text of all relevant government provisions is given. Such in the USSR are: N. Freiberg, "Collection of laws and regulations of the government of the RSFSR on medical-sanitary affairs from 1/IX 1919 to 1/I 1925" (M., 1925); "Collection of current legislation on healthcare" edited by K. Konovalov (vol. I, Moscow, 1929; vols. II-IV in press); S. Rapoport and S. Sokolsky, "Collection of current legislation on medical-sanitary and pharmaceutical affairs in the Ukrainian SSR" (Kharkov, 1927); "Legislation on technical safety and on industrial sanitation" (M., 1926). Examples of foreign publications of this kind: H. Kenwood, "Handbook of sanitary law" (L., 1923); "La legislation sanitaire en Pologne" (Varsovie, 1922); C Melograni, "Codice sanitario" (5th ed., p. 1-2, Napoli, 1921); W. Robertson a. C. Porter, "Sanitary law and practice" (5th ed., L., 1921); P. Violle et R. Wibaut, "Manuel de legislation sanitaire francaise" (P., 1923); "The Pan-American sanitary code" (publ. by the U. S. Public health service, Washington, 1925). In addition, local bodies in different countries often publish their collections of local sanitary regulations, thus creating their local codes. Code of laws on labor - see Labor.

d. sysin.