India identifies 9 priority areas under BRICS Health Track
As part of the ongoing BRICS Health Ministerial Meeting being held under India’s BRICS chairship, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava today inaugurated the senior officials’ meeting here.
In her inaugural address, Punya welcomed the delegates to Chandigarh and stated that the city’s ethos of innovation, sustainability and thoughtful development aptly reflects India’s BRICS chairship theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. She noted that the theme assumed significance in the evolving global health landscape, where increasingly complex and inter-connected health challenges call for stronger collaboration, cooperation and collective action among nations.
She emphasised that, guided by the spirit of partnership and shared responsibility, India has identified nine priority areas under the BRICS Health Track to strengthen resilient, equitable and inclusive health systems.
Highlighting the importance of the expanded BRICS grouping, the Union Health Secretary said that the bloc, representing a significant share of the world’s population, scientific expertise and manufacturing capacity, provides an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of global health through innovation and consensus-driven solutions.
She said that these priority areas focussed on strengthening health infrastructure, enhancing preparedness for future health emergencies through robust surveillance systems and laboratory networks, leveraging digital health technologies, integrating traditional medicine into healthcare systems, strengthening regulatory frameworks, developing a skilled health workforce, promoting collaborative research and development and ensuring timely, affordable and equitable access to healthcare services, essential medicines and medical products.
She also emphasised the importance of strengthening cooperation in areas such as nuclear medicine and supporting the activities of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Centre, reaffirming the shared commitment of BRICS nations towards collaborative research, innovation and global health security.
The Union Health Secretary also inaugurated the exhibition pavilions of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, National Health Authority and Ministry of AYUSH. The pavilions showcased India’s flagship initiatives and innovations in food safety, digital health, traditional systems of medicine and integrated healthcare delivery.
