Health, how it is defined and how it is maintained, is a reflection of the dominant ideology in a certain society. The medical system in Western countries, including Australia, is based on the biomedical model of health or biomedicine. According to Lord Nigel Crisp, advocate of global health reform, former director general of the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) and former permanent secretary of the British Department of Health, Western scientific medicine and health systems are based They have enjoyed spectacular successes in improving health over the past century and have come to dominate medical thought, habits, and institutions globally. It has also served as a guide to health regulatory bodies, including the World Health Organization, health professional associations and pharmaceutical companies. He argued, however, that today Western scientific medicine is no longer capable of handling only the health demands of populations in industrialized and developing countries. It is necessary to adapt and absorb new ideas to be able to meet the demands of the 21st century (Marble, 2010). In order to better understand the current healthcare system in Western societies, this article attempts to take a closer look at the development of scientific medicine as the foundation of modern medical practice. In addition to the overview of biomedicine, some of the challenges from his talk will also be presented throughout the discussion. The term biomedicine is used to describe scientific medicine which occupies an important place in Western societies. To better understand this concept, Baronov (2008) presented the following interrelated views that explain the current development of biomedicine. Fi...... middle of article ......medical knowledge Health, illness and the social body: a critical sociology (4th ed., pp. 195-223). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lu, C., Sylvestre, J., Melnychuk, N. and Li, J. (2008). East meets West: Chinese Canadian perspectives on health and fitness. Canadian Journal of Public Health Canadian Journal of Public Health, 99(1), 22-25. Marble, A. (2010). Reforming the global health system: lessons from Asia: interview with Nigel CrispAsia Policy 10, 144-151. Retrieved from the National Bureau of Asian Research NBR website: http://www.nbr.org/McKenzie, H. (2011). NURS 5002 Social Contexts of Health, Course 1, Week 2: Frameworks for Understanding Health, Illness, and Care: Scientific Medicine. http://lectopia.usyd.edu.au/lectopia/ Taylor, S. and Field, D. (eds.). (2007). Sociology of health and health care (4th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.