After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong formulated a series of medical work systems and guidelines on the basis of inheriting and developing the Marxist concept of health in accordance with the severe international and domestic environment, and formed Mao Zedong's thought on public health. The main contents include: attaching great importance to the importance of public health policy, "regarding public health, epidemic prevention, and general medical work as a major political task"; adhering to the basic value orientation of the new China's public health policy, namely, the people's nature and public welfare; attaching importance to implementing the focus of public health at the rural grassroots level, adhering to the principle of integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine, and establishing a public health security system with fairness as the core. Mao Zedong's thought on public health promoted the development of medical and health undertakings at that time, and also had important guiding significance and value for medical and health undertakings with Chinese characteristics in the new era.