India News | India to Host Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh from 22-24 July
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. As part of its BRICS Chairship 2026, India is set to convene the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh from 22-24 July, bringing together Health Ministers and senior health officials from BRICS member countries to deepen cooperation on health security, digital health, pandemic preparedness and equitable access to quality healthcare, as per the release.
New Delhi [India], July 21 (ANI): As part of its BRICS Chairship 2026, India is set to convene the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh from 22-24 July, bringing together Health Ministers and senior health officials from BRICS member countries to deepen cooperation on health security, digital health, pandemic preparedness and equitable access to quality healthcare, as per the release.
Ahead of the Ministerial Meeting, a press conference was held in Chandigarh on Tuesday, where Punya Salila Srivastava, Union Health Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, briefed the media on the preparations, agenda and expected outcomes of the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting.
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Addressing the media, the Union Health Secretary highlighted that the meeting reflects India's commitment, under its BRICS Chairship 2026, to advancing collective action on key global health priorities through the guiding theme of "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."
Srivastava emphasised that discussions during the Ministerial Meeting will focus on strengthening cooperation in areas such as health security, pandemic preparedness, digital health, innovation, access to affordable medicines, traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, tuberculosis, healthy lifestyles, mental wellness and resilient health systems, while furthering the shared objective of achieving Universal Health Coverage and improving health outcomes across BRICS countries.
She also noted that the meeting would provide an important platform for advancing the health priorities of the Global South through enhanced collaboration and knowledge sharing among BRICS nations.
This marks India's fourth BRICS Chairship, following its earlier tenures in 2012, 2016 and 2021. Guided by the Chairship theme, "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," India has placed health cooperation among the key pillars of its BRICS agenda, reflecting its commitment to advancing a people-centric and inclusive global health architecture.
The meeting will bring together Health Ministers, senior government officials and technical experts from the eleven BRICS member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. Together, these countries represent nearly half of the world's population and around 40 per cent of the global GDP, underscoring BRICS' growing role in shaping global health cooperation.
The official programme will commence with the Senior Officials' Meeting on 22 July, where senior health officials will deliberate on the priority areas under the BRICS Health Track and finalise the draft Ministerial Declaration.
This will be followed by the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting on 23 July, chaired by Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, during which Health Ministers will deliberate on key global and regional public health priorities and consider the adoption of the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Declaration.
On 24 July, India will host a high-level side event titled "BRICS Dialogue: From Digital Health Records to AI-Enabled Healthcare Strengthening the Continuum of Care through Interoperable Data Infrastructure and Responsible Artificial Intelligence," focusing on leveraging interoperable digital health infrastructure and responsible artificial intelligence to strengthen continuity of care and build future-ready health systems across BRICS countries.
Building upon the work undertaken during previous BRICS Chairships, India has retained the existing priorities while introducing two new priority areas--BRICS Mission for Healthy Lifestyle and Promotion of Mental Wellness, reaffirming its commitment to preventive and promotive healthcare.
Under its BRICS Chairship in 2026, India has structured the BRICS Health Track around nine priority areas. These include the BRICS TB Research Network; collaboration among BRICS Medical Products Regulatory Authorities; the BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for Prevention and Response to Mass Infectious Diseases; digital health architecture for a continuum of care, including access to healthcare in remote areas; the BRICS Mission for Healthy Lifestyle; promotion of mental wellness; Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM); the fight against diseases driven by social determinants of health (DD-SDH); and the BRICS Network of National Public Health Institutes.
These priority areas reflect the collective commitment of BRICS countries to strengthening resilient health systems, promoting innovation, enhancing pandemic preparedness, addressing communicable and non-communicable diseases, expanding equitable access to quality healthcare, and accelerating progress towards Universal Health Coverage.
Beginning on 15th April, India convened 26 technical meetings and expert consultations across these priority areas, bringing together experts from BRICS member countries to build consensus on key health issues.
The Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting is expected to strengthen collaboration among BRICS countries in the areas of health security, pandemic preparedness, digital health, innovation, access to affordable medicines, and resilient health systems. It will also provide an important platform for advancing the health priorities of the Global South and promoting collective action towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. (ANI)
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