Senior officials from the BRICS countries held a
meeting via video conference on health issues chaired by Russian Deputy
Minister of Health Oleg Gridnev on 7 May 2020 with the support of the
Roscongress Foundation as part of Russia’s chairmanship of the BRICS.
Among the central topics of discussion were improving control
and diagnostics of the novel coronavirus infection COVID-19 as well as
searching for effective methods of treating patients with a confirmed
diagnosis.
“We are gathered here today not only
to discuss the
main achievements of
our countries in combating COVID-19 but also to formulate expectations of future actions in the field of
infectious diseases. We must strengthen
our cooperation in developing inexpensive and sustainable methods for testing infectious diseases, address the issue of vaccination and conduct global research in
the field of treatments,” Deputy Minister Oleg Gridnev said in his opening remarks.During
the meeting, the parties discussed topical issues on the current health agenda,
including ensuring
biological security of the population
of the BRICS countries
during the pandemic caused by a
novel coronavirus infection, a general overview of the situation in the five countries on the implementation
of measures to curb the spread
of COVID-19 as well as the issues
of interaction between national healthcare systems.An analysis of the experience of the BRICS countries in
combating the spread of the noval coronavirus infection has shown that early
warning and prompt response to threats related not only to COVID-19, but also
to any other emerging infectious diseases are an important factor in safeguarding
the health and lives of their people. In order to achieve this,
the officials have agreed that it is important to strengthen international
cooperation, within the framework of which there has to be a transparent and timely exchange of
information.In this regard they also discussed the proposal of the Russian Side
on the need to set up a comprehensive early warning systems for the risks of biological
threats within BRICS. At the same time, with
the feasibility of using the potential of the New Development Bank to finance
joint projects to ensure the health security of the population of the five
countries was determined, with an emphasis on preventing significant biological
threats and the need to eliminate their consequences.
During the discussions, the countries also agreed to continue providing mutual support in activities to prevent and treat the novel coronavirus infection COVID-19, as well as to create favourable conditions for the supply of deliveries of medications and diagnostic materials, immunobiological preparations and medical equipment.The partners welcomed the proposal of the Russian Side to compile an overview of the advanced measures taken by BRICS countries to counter the spread of COVID-19 for further use not only by the five countries, but also by specialists from other countries.The decisions proposed by the meeting participants will be further discussed at the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Health.
Official websites of the Russian Presidency of the Russian BRICS Chairmanship — https://brics-russia2020.ru/