In the more than thirty years since those words were written as we know, the U.S.S.R. has had its ups and downs, has be, through another devastating war, and has emerged as a technological and industrial power rivaling the United States. We know that it has had problems of urbanization and restless you! Somewhat like our own.

The VD situation in recent years has been something like this syphilis and gonorrhea have been reportable in the U.S.S.R. since 1935. All cases of early infectious syphilis are hospitalize within twenty four hours after diagnosis is made and must remain in the hospital for four to six weeks while contact investigation is undertaken. This would provide enough time to make the patient fully noninfectious. Similar measures are not routinely used with gonorrhea, but are enforced for uncooperative patients or defaulters. If these measures appear harsh, it is interesting to learn from the health legislation experts. Eighteen of the twenty three European countries they studied have some form of compulsion in their VD laws, with compulsory hospitalization in seventeen, including provision for the use of police in three (West Germany, Switzerland, and Turkey).

In the U.S.S.R., case finding is said to be about 80 per cent effective, facilitated by intensive health education of both inpatients and outpatients and of the population in general. Routine blood tests are done on expectant mothers, food handlers, blood donors, applicants for work in children's institutions, and children entering boarding schools; they are voluntary for hospital inpatients generally, and, oddly enough, are not obligatory before marriage. Cities provide free prophylactic centers with no check on their users. The WHO commission that gives us this information says that penicillin is not used prophylactically except in Kiev other cities have used somewhat antiquated drugs. The use of these prophylactic centers is said to be slight and waning.

In the handling of seafaring men there is a surprising lack of compulsion. Medical staff is provided for ships on the basis of length of voyage rather than size. Seamen are examined medically twice each year, but not routinely when leaving the ship or when returning to it after shore leave. All treatment is free to foreign seamen (and other foreigners).

We learn from the same source that prostitution, once rife, is now said not to be a problem, because of laws against it, improving social conditions, full employment, and absence of sexual discrimination. American newspaper correspondents in Moscow, however, have mentioned the existence of prostitution there. Soviet authorities told the WHO commission that there were at that time (1964) no significant VD problems concerned with male homosexuality, or in teenagers, or in migrants, in spite of considerable population movement in connection with industrial development. (see VD CONTROL MUST EMPHASIZE MORALS MORE THAN MICROBES PART IV)