On October 20, 1966 when President Kim Il Sung met the senior officials of the Ministry of Public Health, he gave precious teachings that they should not treat the people only with medicine but place main stress on preventive medicine lest they should get ill.
The President taught that the main in the socialist medical science is preventive medicine not to give medical treatment to the people when they get sick but to take prior measures to prevent people from getting sick.
Many people have strived for development of medical science. They only cured the people when they were ill, but did not think about taking measures beforehand.
It is evident that it is impossible to realize the people’s desire for longevity in good health if they are cured after they fall ill.
Which is prioritized among treatment and prevention was raised not as a medical matter but as a serious socio-political matter.
Saying that socialist medical science is preventive medicine, the President put forward for the first time the idea that taking prior medical measures is the main in the socialist medical science.
This is the man-centered theory of medicine that could be put forward only the President who regarded man as the most precious being in the world and possessed of the love for human as his disposition.
Thanks to the President’s original idea that the socialist medical science is preventive one, correct guiding principle for the development of socialist medical science was provided and a broad avenue paved for its development.
The lifelong desire of the Korean people to enjoy longevity in good health is wonderfully realized by the most superior socialist health care system and the popular public health policy the President provided.
October 20 was set as the National Day of Immunity in order to commemorate forever the day when the President Kim Il Sung published the immortal classic work Socialist Medical Science is Preventive Medicine.
The President’s classic formulation that socialist medical science is preventive medicine is the most revolutionary and scientific theory of medicine that enables to realize the century-long desire of humankind to live a long and healthy life free from all sorts of diseases.
