Economic Aspects of the Fight Against the Biggest “Social” Disease: Financing Measures Against Tuberculosis in Interwar Bulgaria
Études Balkaniques (Sofia), 2023, N 1
Ivaylo NACHEV
Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgaria
Abstract: The article explores financial aspects of the efforts to control tuberculosis in interwar Bulgaria, including the specific roles of different stakeholders involved in the process of fighting one of the main healthcare challenges during the period. Elaborating on the dependency between the overall conditions and the spread of tuberculosis, it examines it as a “social” disease which demanded complex responses in a time of different crises and a wide prevalence of the infection. The text first looks at the evolution of the Bulgarian healthcare institutions which were focused on the problem with an emphasis of the economic aspects of their functioning. It also examines in more detail the initiatives to support the fight against the disease of the biggest voluntary organization in the field, the Society for Fight against Tuberculosis in Bulgaria.
Keywords: History of Medicine, Tuberculosis, Social Disease, Interwar Bulgaria