面向农村为五亿农民服务 (Go to the countryside to serve the 500 million peasants), 1965
面向农村为五亿农民服务 (Go to the countryside to serve the 500 million peasants), author unknown, 1965
In 1965, while 85 to 90 percent of the population lived in rural areas, 80 percent of health care workers remained in cities. A massive public health campaign was born, using a three-tiered approach that included “barefoot doctors,” so called because they worked on the communes that supported them. They received a short course in first aid, giving inoculations and performing simple procedures. To be trained, they had to be literate meaning majority of barefoot doctors were men. While only 40 percent of barefoot doctors were women, but the public image was female, as shown here in this poster. As a tool for mass public health education, this poster attracts an audience to relate to the barefoot doctor in real life.