Health Care and Working Conditions in the Fishing Industry of the Astrakhan Region in the Second Half of the 1970s

Annotation

In the 1980s, the Astrakhan region was one of the key centers of the Soviet Union’s fishing industry. However, harsh and often unsafe working conditions, the seasonal nature of employment, shortages in medical services, and insufficient sanitary supervision contributed to rising morbidity among industry workers. This study, based on materials from the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region and sectoral statistical reports, examines working conditions, medical care, and the structure of morbidity among workers in the regional fishing industry. During the Soviet period, access to data on occupational morbidity and the health status of labor collectives was significantly restricted. The article introduces for the first time archival documents and data reflecting the activities of healthcare institutions, trade unions, and party bodies in ensuring sanitary-hygienic control and medical services at fishing industry enterprises. Particular attention is paid to the impact of production factors, the level of mechanization, and socio-living conditions on workers’ health. The findings reveal that, despite certain achievements in organizing preventive and medical care, the industry continued to exhibit high rates of temporary disability and occupational diseases, which indicates systemic problems in ensuring occupational health and safety under the Soviet economy of its final decades.

Keywords

• Astrakhan Region
• fishing industry
• morbidity
• occupational diseases
• occupational safety
• Soviet healthcare
• history of medicine
• Tenth Five-Year Plan
• temporary disability
• health protection
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Acknowledgments

the reported study was funded by government subsidy, project no. 122022700134-6 “The Southeastern Belt of Russia: Exploring Political and Cultural History of Social Communities and Groups”.

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