Persia

Persia. Area - 1,640,000 km². Population density - approximately 7.3 people per 1 km². These data are approximate, as no censuses have been conducted in the country. Extreme sparseness of population, almost complete absence of roads except for a few major highways, low cultural level of the population living in poverty and ruthlessly exploited by the clergy and other wealthy groups - such is the general picture of modern Persia. No data on population movement. In Tehran in 1922, mortality was calculated at 19.66 per 1,000. Sanitary organization. In 1927, a sanitary administration was organized in Persia and a sanitary council, which had existed since 1924 in Tehran, was placed at its head. By law of 2/II 1927, this organization as well as the functions of the sanitary council were formalized, and all together were subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (in 1921 a Ministry of Health existed for several months). In each province of Persia there is its own sanitary director with sanitary physicians as officials. In 1925, there were 48 such sanitary officials in the provinces and cities, of whom about half were without medical diplomas, about a third had graduated from medical school in Tehran. The sanitary administration has vaccinators. Infectious diseases and the fight against them. Constant contact with plague and cholera foci - with India, Afghanistan and with Mesopotamia - as well as the fact that Persia is on the land route of Muslim pilgrims from Asia to Mecca, explains why border health protection is so important in Persia, and why European states are also interested in this issue. For the USSR, this issue is of particular interest due to the proximity to Persia and due to the fact that a certain part of Persian pilgrims go from Persia through Transcaucasia to Batumi, and from there by ship further. In recent years, sanitary supervision in the most dangerous border points of Persia has been significantly improved, and almost all cases of plague importation were limited to these points and did not spread inland. Border health protection in Persia is carried out by quarantine points organized on land and sea borders. In the Persian Gulf there are 8 such points located in the main ports (Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, etc.) and on the Caspian Sea - 4 (Astarah, Pehlevi, Bender Ghaz and Ashraf). There are 21 land points (Kasr Shirin and Dozdab). In each point there is supposed to be a doctor and officials with disinfection materials and premises for quarantine. In the Persian Gulf and on the Iraqi border, doctors are almost everywhere Englishmen, officials of the Indian sanitary administration. The seizure of quarantine points, which were occupied during the war, under the pretext of better organization of quarantine supervision, was one of the moments of further penetration of British capital into Persia, to which British imperialism seeks economic domination. On the Caspian coast, almost all doctors are Persians. The main danger in terms of the spread of infections are pilgrims (see), passing through Persia and Mesopotamia to Mecca or traveling by sea through the ports of the Persian Gulf. In one year in Persia alone, up to 15,000 passports are issued to pilgrims. In addition, through Kermanshah, the bodies of Muslims wishing to be buried in the 'holy land' are transported to Mecca. It should be noted once again that Persia is an object of constant attempts by foreign capital to seize its markets and turn Persia into a kind of semi-colony with all those defects that usually characterize colonial countries. Plague. From 1917 to 1924, there were 7 outbreaks of plague in the border points of the Persian Gulf. After 1924, cases of plague were also observed on the Caspian coast. Cholera. From 1820 to 1903, there were 7 major epidemics of it in Persia, of which 5 penetrated into Russia. Epidemics of cholera occurred in 1917, 1918 and in 1923; the last epidemic was brought from Mesopotamia to the border regions of Persia (in Abadan, 961 cases were registered with 911 deaths). Outbreaks of cholera were also observed in 1931 in the vicinity of Kerman, i.e. at a point where three roads from the Persian Gulf and the path from India meet. Apparently, typhus and relapsing fever are widely spread in Persia, but there are no exact statistical data. - Smallpox is endemic in Persia; the number of diseases decreased after mass vaccination was organized from 1909, although not compulsory. No exact statistics of smallpox diseases are kept. - Malaria is strongly spread in Persia, especially along the Caspian coast and the coast of the Persian Gulf. This is facilitated by swamps as well as improper use of irrigation canals, cisterns and pools in gardens. There is no statistical accounting of diseases, but in Tehran alone, on average, up to 20% of all patients in hospitals are treated for malaria. Social diseases. Syphilis and other venereal diseases are extremely widespread. Thus, in Tehran in 1924, out of 12,569 patients who passed through hospitals in 5 months, 801 were syphilitics (6.37%) and 644 patients with gonorrhea (5.1%), i.e. a total of 11.47% of venereal diseases. Leishmaniasis and trachoma are extremely widespread in Persia. Tuberculosis is widespread everywhere, including among nomads. - There are foci of leprosy; in Persian Azerbaijan (in Ariadarassi and Khalkhale) patients themselves have formed colonies and cultivate the land. - The problem of opium and drug addiction is of great importance in Persia. At present, from 5% to 10% of the population smokes opium. The interest of foreign capital in this matter does not make it possible to take any real measures to combat opium smoking. Export constituted 20-25% of all Persian export, and opium production now gives no less than 1,950,000 English pounds per year. Hashish is also widespread. Medical care. In 1924, there were 905 physicians in Persia, of whom 253 with European diplomas. Physicians are concentrated almost exclusively in cities, for example in Tehran there are 323 physicians; in the rest of the country there was on average one physician per 16,800 inhabitants. According to the law of 1911, a foreign or Persian medical faculty diploma is required for practice. Medical education is extremely unsatisfactory. In Tehran there is a medical school with French staff at its head, and teaching is conducted in French. Work on corpses and their autopsy are still prohibited by law. For women there is a special school that creates rather nurses than physicians. In the provinces, all sorts of charlatans are widely practiced. The Pasteur Institute in Tehran, founded in 1921, performs chemical and bacteriological analyses, makes some serums and vaccines (against anthrax, cholera, smallpox). Hospitals have existed only since 1914 and then in extremely insufficient numbers. The best of them are on concession to the Anglo-Persian Company in the south of Persia. In addition, there are hospitals of American and European missions. Medical care is best organized in Tehran. The city is divided into 10 sanitary districts with physicians, 8 free dispensaries, consultations, 2 dental clinics, a hospital for mental patients with 100 beds and other hospitals. In 1923, there were 95,136 visits to all dispensaries in the city. There are no measures in the field of labor protection. Sanitary affairs are extremely primitive. - The health budget is insignificant. With a total budget of 230 million krans (kran - 25 kopecks) in 1923-24, credits for health care reached approximately 1,700,000 krans, but actually about 1 million was spent.