Today we got an early start and traveled to Dubrovnik. On the way we learned about the history of public health in Dubrovnik, which was seen as the city between the east and west. Dubrovnik was a port city at the opening of Mediterranean Sea connecting much of the world. It was a high traffic port used by people from all over the world for travel and trade, which was the basis for their economic growth and power. In order to preserve this power, Dubrovnik passed and implemented multiple laws to protect the health of their people. As a result, Dubrovnik was a forerunner in public health and medical standards.
By the year 1247, public toilets were installed to prevent people from urinating in alleys. In 1272, they understood the need to dispose of human waste, so all homes were required to have a toilet. In 1282, the earliest pharmacy was established in Dubrovnik. The Benedictine Monks were the first to introduce medical knowledge in the area. They grew medicinal herbs to use for treatment, and they were looked at as experts. Additionally, they provided medical services to people in area.
Overall, they created an exemplary public health system in the 14th and 15th centuries as a result of Plague. They needed to be healthy and perceived as a safe place since it was the bridge to east and west. They instituted the first systematic quarantine in 1347. They used data which enabled them to understand the relationship between the number of ships and travelers coming to Dubrovnik and disease prevalence. All of the public health officials believed in the infectious nature of plague, so they made travelers take an oath that they had not been in a plague infected area within the last two months.
In the 15th century they passed a law to provide free medical care to all citizens. Additionally, they had extensive social services including group of homes for homeless, facilities for the older adults, and orphanages for children.
Once we arrived in Dubrovnik, we walked through the old town to Deša, a facility developed in 1993 to help refugees, the displaced, and traumatized women. These individuals were often unemployed, with nowhere to go. They were invited into Deša where they could get involved, develop skills, and reclaim their dignity. One of the first programs developed there was using silkworms to create authentic textiles. When the war broke out in Dubrovnik, everything was burned and people lost most of their belongings. This included century-old garments full of history from their region. They also lost all of their silkworms which produced the silk used in the intricate embroidery designs on these garments. To rebuild and preserve their heritage, they tried to acquire silkworms from other countries, but due to refusals or complicated red tape, they were not successful. As a result, the director smuggled silkworms from France into the country in her bra, and currently the 17th generation of silkworms are working away, producing the silk used in the beautiful garments the members of Deša create, which are pictured above.
After our time at Deša, we took a brief walking tour of the city and were able to see the various historical sites in the old town. During the tour we happened across a public health screening on the square (pictured above) which seemed serendipitous based on the history of public health in the town. Students were then able to tour the town in depth on their own, and were able to walk along the city walls, visit the oldest pharmaceutical museum in Dubrovnik, or visit the various churches in the town. Pictures of some of the sites in Dubrovnik are pictured above. When the group reconvened, we traveled back to Makarska for a group dinner, and then some time to relax before heading to Mostar in the morning. It was a great day!
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