Its aims are the promotion of research, education, and quality in health care.
[1] The Society awards its Pasteur medal every ten years to a scientist who has made significant contributions to bacteriology or hygiene.
The original medal was presented to Louis Pasteur on his birthday in 1892, and the decadal award began in 1900.
[2] The society was founded in 1808 by Jacob Berzelius, Jonas Henrik Gistrén, Erik Gadelius, Anders Johan Hagströmer, Carl Fredrik von Schulzenheim, Eric Carl Trafvenfelt, and Henrik Gahn.
[3] Full membership is open to those who have graduated in medicine in a Nordic country, have graduated in medicine elsewhere and are licensed to practise in Sweden, or hold a doctorate at a medical faculty in Sweden.