Chandigarh, Jul 23 (PTI) Union minister Anupriya Patel on Thursday said the 16th BRICS Health Ministers’ meeting being held here under India’s chairship from July 22-24 is witnessing meaningful exchange of ideas, with all the member countries and partner nations presenting their unique perspectives and experiences.
“Over the course of two days, we have seen great participation from the 11 member states and 10 partner countries,” Patel, the Minister of State for Health, told reporters on the sidelines of the meet.
The event has brought together health ministers and senior health officials from the BRICS countries and member nations to deepen cooperation on health security, digital health, and pandemic preparedness, officials said.
“There are nine priority areas of discussion, including TB research network, creation of digital health architecture, and our traditional, complementary and integrative medicine systems,” said Patel, who arrived here with Ayush Minister Prataprao Jadhav, who is also holds charge as MoS Health.
The health ministers and senior health officials from South Africa, Indonesia, Belarus, Egypt, Iran and Russia are among those taking part in the ministerial meeting on Thursday.
Patel said, “BRICS countries constitute 50 per cent of the world’s total population and contribute 40 per cent to the world’s GDP. So, the idea behind this forum is to translate the strengths of the BRICS countries into actionable outcomes.
“We have had a very meaningful exchange of ideas so far, with participants presenting their unique perspectives and experiences. We are committed to not leaving anyone behind in our quest to achieve the target of universal health coverage, especially for the vulnerable populations.” She also said that India has introduced two forward-looking initiatives.
“The first is the BRICS mission for a healthy lifestyle, wherein we want to share the best practices to promote healthy lifestyles and tackle the rising burden of non-communicable and lifestyle diseases. Second, the BRICS network of centres of excellence for tackling mental health issues,” Patel said.
BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation that has been expanded to 11 full member countries now – Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Vladimir Zelensky, the First Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, said, “We are very encouraged by this meeting under India’s chairmanship, where a lot of decisions are being taken. We are talking about digital health, universal access to affordable healthcare, telemedicine and tele-consultation, vaccination, etc.” “This is my first visit to India, which is a great country. What stands out the most is India’s traditional medicine system and digital services,” he added. PTI SUN ARI
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