[Health service activity of Nowogrodek District in the twenties of the XXth century].

In the article the health service activity of Nowogrodek District was discussed; the activity took place in the first years of the Second Polish Republic, including the period of 1919-1920 when authorities from Belorussian Minsk administered these areas. The biggest health problem was initially a mass incidence of acute infectious diseases now almost unknown, such as typhus and dysentery. Their widespread expansion was due to bad sanitary conditions worsened by significant war destructions. Moreover, there were very few health service workers and hospitals in the area. That is why exceptional means had to be undertaken, like establishing the post of "Head Special Commissioner of Public Health Ministry for fighting against plagues" and whole system of temporary hospitals and sanitary hygienic stations. Due to enormous efforts of both health service workers and the authorities together with local community, these problems were overcome during a few years: yet the areas belonging to Nowogrodek District belonged to the most endangered by plagues through-out all the period. During next few years all the attention was mainly directed to organisational matters, like founding modern, general and specialistic outpatients' departments servicing also social care. Scientific and social medical societies began their improvement of hygienic conditions of food processing industry and tidying of towns and villages. The article was worked out basing on documents form Belorussian and Polish archives and also on the literature, both of inter-war and contemporary period.