The Greatest Invention Protecting Human Health: 'Vaccine'... Reflecting Awareness of the COVID-19 Situation

Vaccine image photo. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Vaccines have been selected as the greatest invention for human health. This is interpreted as reflecting the increased importance of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 15th, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced the "Top 10 Inventions That Have Protected Human Health," selected through a survey conducted from the 12th to the 14th.

The survey was conducted by having participants recommend three inventions each from a list of 30 medical and health inventions pre-selected by experts. About 800 people participated in the survey, providing over 1,300 valid responses.

The top 10 inventions selected through this process are ▲Vaccines (17.5% recommendation rate) ▲Antibiotics (11.4%) ▲Refrigerators (9.4%) ▲Masks (8.6%) ▲Soap (6.3%) ▲Air Purifiers (5.7%) ▲Endoscopes (4.3%) ▲Anti-inflammatory Painkillers (4.0%) ▲Anesthetics (3.9%) ▲Flush Toilets (3.3%).

Among them, respondents who chose vaccines as the greatest invention commented, "The number one contributor protecting humanity from infectious diseases," "Without vaccines during the COVID-19 era...," and "With vaccines invented for COVID-19, eradication now seems within reach."

Antibiotics received supportive comments such as "A revolution in medicine" and "Thanks to them, human lifespan has dramatically increased," while refrigerators made the top list for reasons like "Refrigerators are essential for storing vaccines and medicines."

Masks and soap, also ranked high among the top 10 inventions, received many comments such as "How would we have stopped COVID-19 without masks..." and "Without soap to maintain cleanliness and minimize infection, our very survival might have been threatened," indicating that many respondents prioritized inventions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Meanwhile, the results and significance of KIPO’s survey will be introduced in detail on the 19th of next month through KIPO’s YouTube broadcast "4 o’clock! This is KIPO."