Cape Town, 8 November 2013 -- The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan, has commended the BRICS countries for the progress in strengthening cooperation among them and improving the health of their populations. 

Addressing the 3rd BRICS Health Ministers Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, she praised their commitment towards universal health coverage and pointed out that it is a global endeavour for which most countries are striving. The BRICS is an alliance of five countries comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa who together account for nearly 42% of the world’s population.

In a speech read on her behalf by the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, she said: “Each of the BRICS countries is using different models to achieve universal health coverage. This range of experiences is important in providing examples that could be adapted to different contexts. WHO could learn from country experiences and share best practices to further elaborate on the concept of universal health coverage”.

The Director-General pointed out that in addition to equitable health policies, countries need to organize and finance relevant health infrastructure to enable individuals to access quality health care according to their needs as well as protect them from catastrophic financial consequences when they fall ill.

Referring to access to essential, high-quality and affordable medical products, Dr Chan applauded efforts towards building capacity for local production of essential medicines particularly in African countries - where they are needed the most. She also stressed the importance of strengthening the capacity of national medicine regulatory authorities to ensure quality production of medicines.

Dr Chan called on the Health Ministers to actively engage in discussions on the post-2015 development agenda to ensure that health remains central to sustainable development. 

In a joint communique, the Health Ministers expressed appreciation for the momentum built for universal health coverage and support for the leadership role of WHO. They reaffirmed their commitment to control both communicable and noncommunicable diseases and stressed the critical role of effective health surveillance in disease control activities. The Ministers of Health also agreed to continue working towards reduction of maternal and child deaths through capacity building and exchange of best practices.

The BRICS health leaders reiterated their support to the continued discussions on the process of reform of WHO to better respond to global health challenges and welcomed the initiation of the financing dialogue based on priorities collectively set by WHO Member States.

The 3rd BRICS meeting discussed wide ranging issues including; universal health coverage; research and development of medicines and other health technologies; disease surveillance and emerging health threats; and the reduction of risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases.  

For more information, please contact:

Collins Boakye-Agyemang, + 472413 9420 E-mail: Boakyec [at] afro.who.int
Eugene Mahlehla + 472 413 47716  E-mail: mahlehlaeu [at] who.int