Delhi Communiqué was issued at the end of the two-day 6th BRICS Health Ministers’ meet that was held in New Delhi recently.
The BRICS countries, represented by Health Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China andSouth Africa recalled the previous BRICS Health Ministers declarations and joint communiqués in which they committed to strengthen intra-BRICS cooperation to promote health, acknowledged the renewed commitment to health by the BRICS leaders as expressed in the Goa Declaration of October 2016, noted the progress made since the first BRICS Summit and resolved to continue cooperation in the sphere of health through the Technical Working Groups and the “BRICS Framework for Collaboration on Strategic Projects in Health”.
They agreed to constitute a working group, to work on strengthening regulatory systems, sharing of information, appropriate regulatory approaches in case of international and national health emergencies and provide recommendations for the promotion of research and development of innovative medical products (drugs, vaccines and medical technologies).
They supported promoting existing IT platform and regulatory capacity building through an institutional development plan for BRICS countries.
They adopted the BRICS TB Cooperation Plan and supported the recommendations made by the BRICS workshop on HIV and Tuberculosis, held in Ahmedabad, India in November 2016, including the need for the suggested political, technical and financial actions to address the public health challenges of TB and HIV among BRICS countries.
They also agreed to the setting up of a BRICS network on TB Research and creation of a research and development consortium on TB, HIV and Malaria including the possibility of international fund raising.
They agreed to support the Global Ministerial Conference on the fight against TB to be held in Moscow in 2017 and the UN High-Level Meeting on TB at United Nations Headquarters in 2018.
They agreed to establish platforms for collaboration within BRICS framework and with other countries and international partners with a view to realizing the goals and objectives outlined in this as well as in the past Declarations and Joint Communiques.
Lastly they agreed to convene the 7th BRICS Health Ministers meeting and Meeting of Senior Health Officials in China in 2017.