The open lecture by Dr. Konstantin Pashkov is dedicated to the important period in medical history when a unique state healthcare system was created to ensure universal access to quality medical care and drive the development of the entire industry. Repeated attempts were made at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th to reform the healthcare system in the Russian Empire, leading to the creation of the world’s first Ministry of Health, which, unfortunately, would exist for only a few months. Success organizing a state medical system would not be achieved until the early years of the Soviet Union, when the first People’s Commissar of Health Nikolay Semashko finally established one of the world’s most progressive healthcare systems. The principles and methods employed to organize free state medical care quickly spread beyond the borders of Russia and were a matter of interest worldwide. Semashko’s model, characterized by strict centralized management, unified planning, free access for all, and a focus on preventive care ensured the country all the qualified doctors it needed and more and significantly improved the accessibility of medical care, greatly reducing child mortality and the death rate from infectious diseases and reducing the scale and danger of epidemics to virtually nothing.