Activity of sanitary surveillances in Vilnius at the time of the Second Republic of Poland.

: At the time of the Second Republic of Poland, in March 1922, the city of Vilnius together with the Vilnius Region was incorporated into Poland. Sanitary and health negligence was one of the main problems of the city. The genesis of that situation dates back to the 120-year national bondage, when the city was under the Russian rule. Since 1915 it was occupied by the German invader, and from January to April 1919 it belonged to Soviet Russia. The legacy left by this epoch concerned bad housing conditions, problems with removal of impurities, scarcity of fresh water supply, uneven and dirt roads, which along with other bionegative factors resulted in dissemination of contagious diseases and occurrence of other health risks. In Vilnius of the interwar period, similarly to other big cities in Poland, sanitary surveillances played a significant role in controlling acute contagious diseases, inspecting sanitary conditions of living quarters, service outlets, industrial plants, sites of production and selling food articles, as well as surveillance of food. Municipal doctors supervised the work of sanitary inspectors in each sanitary office.