ABSTRACT
The defense of the Zapolyarie continued from July 1941 to November 1944. The Karelia front with its medical service and rear institutions was organized in August 1941 for defense implementing. The medical support of the Karelia front and its rear was complicated by characteristics of transport system of the region, severe climate conditions, unfavorable epidemiological situation and insufficient number of medical institutions. In short terms, military and civil medical workers succeeded to organize system of evacuation of the wounded and ill persons, to develop hospital base of front of more than 17 thousand beds and to stabilize epidemiological situation. As a result, at relatively low surgical activity (20.9%) and hospital lethality (0.1%) medical workers of the Karelia front and its rear succeeded to return into service 84.2% of wounded and ill persons that is one of the highest indices in comparison with medical institutions of the oblasts of the central region of Russia. It is worth to emphasize that one of the characteristics of the front affected benevolently its medical support, was effective functioning of the Arkhangelskii state medical institute than being in rear, reoriented its pedagogic, research and curative activities to needs of war times.
