India will host a 3-day meeting of BRICS Health Ministers in Chandigarh beginning today. It will bring together Health Ministers and senior health officials from BRICS member countries to deepen cooperation on health security, digital health, pandemic preparedness and equitable access to quality healthcare.
Akashvani’s correspondent reports that the 16th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting reflects India’s commitment to advancing collective action on key global health priorities through the guiding theme of “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. Addressing a press conference, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said that discussions during the Ministerial Meeting will focus on strengthening cooperation in areas such as health security, pandemic preparedness, digital health, innovation, access to affordable medicines, traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, tuberculosis, healthy lifestyles, mental wellness and resilient health systems.
The official programme will commence with the Senior Officials’ Meeting today, followed by the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting tomorrow, chaired by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda, during which Health Ministers will deliberate on key global and regional public health priorities and consider the adoption of the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers’ Declaration. The meeting will provide an important platform for advancing the health priorities of the Global South and promoting collective action towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
