Public Health Guides
History & Milestones
Discoveries and campaigns that shaped modern health.
History of Public Health: From Ancient Sanitation to Modern Health Systems
Public health began with ancient drains, aqueducts and quarantine, grew through the sanitary movement of the 1800s, and became a science with germ theory, vaccines and modern health systems.
John Snow and the 1854 Broad Street Cholera Outbreak: Birth of Epidemiology
London physician John Snow mapped cholera deaths in Soho, traced them to a contaminated water pump on Broad Street and persuaded officials to remove its handle — a founding story of epidemiology.
Germ Theory of Disease: How Pasteur and Koch Changed Medicine
Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch proved that specific microbes cause specific diseases, replacing miasma theory and opening the way to vaccines, antiseptic surgery and laboratory diagnosis.
History of Vaccines: From Jenner's Smallpox Vaccine to mRNA
Vaccines began with Edward Jenner's cowpox experiment in 1796 and now include mRNA technology. Immunisation prevents an estimated 3.5–5 million deaths every year worldwide.
Smallpox Eradication: How the World Defeated a Deadly Disease
Smallpox killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone. A WHO-led global campaign using surveillance and ring vaccination eradicated it; WHO declared it eradicated in May 1980.
The Discovery of Antibiotics: Penicillin and the Golden Age of Medicine
Alexander Fleming noticed in 1928 that penicillin mould killed bacteria. Mass-produced in the 1940s, antibiotics transformed survival from infections — but their overuse now drives antimicrobial resistance.
History of Public Health in Nepal: From Bir Hospital to Federal Health System
Nepal's modern health system began with Bir Hospital in 1889, expanded through malaria eradication and immunisation, built a community-based network with FCHVs, and now operates under a federal structure.
Educational content by PHC-Nepal. It does not replace professional medical advice. Figures are drawn from the cited organisations and may be updated over time.