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The first doctor on record is Hesy-Ra from Ancient Egypt (2700BC). Image by James Edward Quibell.

The first doctor on record is Hesy-Ra from Ancient Egypt (2700BC). Image by James Edward Quibell.

Health is all about how well our minds and bodies function. As this is pretty important, people have been studying health for many thousands of years.

The earliest doctor on record was Hesy-Ra way back in Ancient Egypt (2700 BC). Back then people believed evil gods and demons were responsible for illnesses and often magic was used as part of treatment. Since then scientists have developed an understanding of health and now it’s a huge area of research.

Child receiving a measles vaccine. Image by Julien Harneis.

Child receiving a measles vaccine. Image by Julien Harneis.

Many health scientists research diseases, helping to save and improve millions of lives. Take the scientist Edward Jenner, who developed a vaccine against smallpox, wiping out the disease world wide. Vaccines also helped reduce other serious diseases, such as: polio, measles and tetanus.

Despite the progress in health there are still big problems for scientists to tackle, including cancer, malaria, HIV and malnutrition.