Meditsina

the central medical publishing house of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Publishing, Printing, and the Book Trade.

Meditsina was founded in November 1918 as the publications section of the People’s Commissariat for Public Health of the RSFSR. It was named Gosmedizdat of the State Commissariat for Public Health of the RSFSR in 1928 and renamed Medgiz (part of the OGIZ system—the Unified State Publishing House) in 1931. In 1937 it was renamed Medgiz Publishing House of the People’s Commissariat for Public Health of the USSR. It has been called Meditsina Publishing House since 1963.

Meditsina Publishing House puts out textbooks, reference books, atlases, scientific literature, mass publications for medical workers, translations of foreign medical works, literature on the medical industry, and popular science publications. In 1972 it published 478 titles (books and pamphlets; 11.6 million copies, or 146.3 million printed sheets). It also publishes 52 medical journals and three journals (in translation) of the World Health Organization, with a total annual circulation of 21.2 million. The Chief Book Editorial Staff and specialized groups under it prepare the medical books for publication. Meditsina has a branch in Leningrad. The Editorial and Publishing Council and its professional sections, which include medical specialists working gratis on a voluntary basis, function as part of the publishing house. Meditsina maintains regular contacts with medical publishing houses in the socialist countries.