BRICS Health Senior Officials Met in Moscow

BRICS Health Senior Officials met in Moscow on 18–19 April to discuss upcoming BRICS health activities as part of Russia’s BRICS Chairship in 2024, the creation of a BRICS Medical Journal, and the establishment of a BRICS Medical Association.

The BRICS representatives discussed current challenges facing public healthcare, noting a shortage of vaccines, problems with human resources, an increase in non-communicable diseases, and growing antimicrobial resistance.

A representative of Sechenov University talked about the concept for a Medical Journal and its possible content, describing plans to promote the publication: “The BRICS Medical Journal should be more than a scientific publication and serve as a platform for scientific discussion within BRICS. By combining our efforts, we can make it a central source of information on biomedicine and healthcare and attract the work of scientists and doctors from all over the world”.

The BRICS representatives at the meeting expressed their support for the initiative and spoke of its relevance in the light of the current abundance of Western scientific publications in the medical sphere.

The National Medical Chamber joined the discussion on the establishment of BRICS Medical Association with the suggestion to create a voluntary group of BRICS national medical associations as a council with no legal entity. The plan is to create an independent structure with the freedom to make advisory decisions and provide expert assessments on perspective opportunities for cooperation in healthcare. Meeting participants confirmed their interest in establishing the association and willingness to join.

The next BRICS Senior Health Officials’ Meeting is scheduled for October in Moscow.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.