Soviet Program for Medical Research **†

At the 20th Congress of the Communist party of the Soviet Union, held in Moscow in February, 1956, the sixth five-year plan was presented and accepted. Such plans extend into all walks of life in the U.S.S.R. but particularly in fields of applied science, not the least of which has been the program for work in the medical sciences. This pattern is characteristic of the Soviet Union, and one can more or less count upon the fact that professional, business, and academic activities are supposed to be done, according to plan, the basic plans being redrawn every five years. In the field of medical research such programs are implemented in Russia today under a highly organized system within a large number of research institutes, the staffs of which vary in size approximately from one hundred to one thousand individuals, of whom about one-third are of professional rank. There are three hundred of these institutes in the Soviet Union with great centralization in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. They operate under three administrative systems: The Academy institutes accentuate basic research, the Ministry emphasizes practical or applied research, including the production of vaccines and other biological materials, while the institutes under the republics are primarily concerned with local problems. The current (1956-60) plan of the Academy of Medical Sciences, U.S.S.R.,$ which is the subject of the present review, is concerned primarily with what Soviet scientists and physicians would regard as basic and practical research work to be accomplished during the next five years. From it one can deduce those subjects which they consider to be the most import In the drawing up of this plan the Academy of Medical Sciences has had the collaboration of the Medical Research Council of the Ministry of Health and probably other agencies.