The German pathologist and politician Rudolf Virchow played a pivotal role in promoting social medicine and improving public health in the 19th century. Virchow’s main achievements include his characterisation of medicine as a social science as well as a biological science. His fundamental goals included the founding of the practice of medicine on the exact sciences as well as the prevention of disease and promotion of health through social and political action. According to Virchow, the remit of medicine was not merely to treat disease but also to contribute to the health of the entire population. Today, disease prevention and health promotion should become priorities in global and national political agendas and investment decisions. The key factors contributing to the global pandemic of non-communicable diseases are unhealthy lifestyles, with high-calorie diets, insufficient physical exercise, tobacco smoking and alcohol use. These lifestyle factors also contribute to the susceptibility to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirustype2 infection and a more severe course of coronavirus disease 2019. Prevention of the development of non-communicable and age-related diseases would reduce the future demand on healthcare systems. Interventions capable of slowing ageing and reducing the number of disability-adjusted life years may have a greater benefit than those targeted at individual disease. Decisive political leadership is required to motivate significant changes in health improvement in respect of both infectious and non-communicable diseases. Governments worldwide need to pay serious attention to the wellbeing of the people and should institute lasting and meaningful changes at population level.