Pharmacy during the Great Patriotic War: challenges and decisions

Introduction. In this article authors analyze the features of providing the front and rear with medicines during the Great Patriotic War. The particular attention is paid to the serious damage caused by the German fascist invaders to the pharmaceutical industry and establishing a supply of medicines and medical supplies to Leningrad. Along with the characteristics of drugs and hygiene and care products produced at factories evacuated to safe regions of the USSR, the article also notes the contribution of medical and pharmaceutical enterprises of besieged Leningrad to saving the lives and health of citizens and the military. Objective: To study the features of the adaptation of pharmaceutical production to the requirements of wartime and to characterize the discoveries of Soviet scientists in the field of pharmacy and medical practice during the Great Patriotic War. Material and methods. The study is based on the study of published information about pharmaceutical industry during the Great Patriotic War. The research methods used to achieve the stated objectives are historical and descriptive methods. Results. The work considered the achievements of Soviet scientists who worked in military conditions. The work characterized the activities of N.V. Lazarev, who worked on stimulants of the nervous system in combat conditions; Z.V. Ermolyeva, who isolated the first domestic penicillin – crustosin, as well as cholera bacteriophage; G.F. Gause and M.G. Brazhnikova, who synthesized gramicidin C; G.P. Gemp, who made a number of discoveries in the field of algology; discoveries of N.I. Alexandrov, N.E. Gefen, N.N. Zhukova-Verezhnikova, M.P. Pokrovsky, E.I. Korobkova, M.M. Faibich, N.F. Gamaleya in the field of immunology. Conclusion. Despite the difficult conditions, the Great Patriotic War gave impetus to the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the field of immunology, therapy and vaccination. Existing enterprises were modernized and their production capacity was increased.