1. Consistent with the mandate of the Sanya
Declaration of the BRICS Leaders Meeting, we, the Health Ministers of the
Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India,
the People`s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, met in
Beijing, China, for the First BRICS Health Ministers` Meeting on 11 July 2011,
to discuss and coordinate positions on issues of common interest as well as to
identify areas for cooperation in public health. The BRICS Ministers of Health
issued the following Declaration:
2.
Public health is an essential element for social and economic development and
should be reflected accordingly in national and international policies. The
impact of foreign policy on health outcomes is being recognized. We call upon
the United Nations General Assembly as well as other major international
conferences and fora, to integrate public health into their respective agendas,
in order to further promote awareness and contribute to build political
consensus and generate broad, sustained and concerted action for public health.
3. The
international health architecture comprises an increasing number of
international agencies and organizations, each of them playing a significant
role, in their respective areas, to promote public health. In this increasingly
complex environment, we are determined to strengthen public health at the
global level and to improve the leading and coordinating role of the World
Health Organization (WHO) in international health cooperation. We acknowledge
that challenges related to food security, climate change, environment, trade
and other global issues have an impact on public health. We are committed to
support and undertake inclusive global public health cooperation projects,
including through South-South and triangular cooperation. We support greater
coordination and cooperation among international health and development agencies
and organizations, so as to optimize the use of resources and to integrate, in
a coherent manner, global health policies.
4. In
view of the financial challenges and growing demands faced by WHO in the
aftermath of the economic crisis, we urge Member States, in particular
developed countries, to continue to support the Organization with the required
resources for the fulfillment of its mandate. In this context, we support
innovative financing mechanisms for health as possible means to mobilize additional
resources.
5. We
also stress the need and importance of the reform of WHO. We are confident that
proposed reform measures which include, among others, focusing on core
business, strengthening financing, resource mobilization and strategic
communication, strengthening the Organization`s role in global health
governance, will lead to the improvement of the Organization`s transparency,
efficiency and accountability. We welcome the decision taken by the WHO
Executive Board to establish a transparent, Member State driven and inclusive
reform process.
6. The
strengthening of health systems and health financing in developing countries in
all regions must be the central goal of the global health community. In our
view, WHO has a major role to play in the promotion of access to medication,
technology transfer and capacity-building with a view to bring more equity to
the health sector worldwide. Success in health outcomes in one country
represents success to many others.
7.
Despite our diversity, the BRICS nations face a number of similar public health
challenges, including inequitable access to health services and medicines,
growing health costs, infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis (TB),
while also facing growing rates of non-communicable diseases. The major
challenge facing us is how to provide health care to millions of people, in
particular among the most vulnerable segments of our populations.
8. We
are committed to continue to collaborate in order to advance access to public
health services and goods in our own countries and deliver more cost-effective,
equitable and sustainable solutions for common health challenges. We are also
committed to support other countries in their efforts to promote health for
all.
9. With
those aims in mind, we reaffirm our commitment to promote BRICS as a forum of
coordination, cooperation and consultation on relevant matters related to
global public health. Therefore, we agree to institutionalize, on a permanent
basis, the dialogue among Ministers of Health, as well as among Permanent
Representatives in Geneva, to follow-up and implement the health related
outcome of the BRICS summit.
10. In
light of the theme of the meeting “Global Health- Access to Medicine”, which
aims to promote innovation and access to affordable medicines, vaccines and
other health technologies of assured quality, in support of reaching MDGs 4, 5,
6 and 8 and other public health challenges, we have identified the following
priority areas:
I.
Collaboration to strengthen health systems and overcome barriers to access to
affordable, quality, efficacious, safe medical products, vaccines and other
health technologies for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, malaria and
other infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases.
II.
Collaboration to explore and promote, where feasible, effective transfer of
technology to strengthen innovation capacity to benefit public health in
developing countries.
III.
Collaboration with and support of international organizations, including WHO
and UNAIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the
GAVI alliance, to increase access to affordable, quality, efficacious and safe
medicines, vaccines and other medical products that serve public health needs.
11. We
agree to establish and encourage a global health agenda for universal access to
affordable medicines and health commodities.
12. To
accelerate progress towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care
and support, we encourage increased access to new and innovative antiretroviral
therapies (ART). We are determined to make efforts to simplify treatment
regimens, including for second and third line therapy as the incidence of
resistance increases. As far as TB and malaria are concerned, we encourage
increased innovation, notably in the development of additional diagnostic tools
and treatment for the resistant strains of the diseases. We encourage the
access to diagnosis and treatment for viral hepatitis.
13.
With the increasing need for the WHO Prequalification of Medicines Programme to
ensure quality of HIV, TB and malaria medicines as well as vaccines produced by
BRICS countries, we call upon the WHO to facilitate prequalification process,
the strengthening of national regulatory authorities and the enhancement of
exportability of medical products produced in BRICS countries, especially
priority vaccines and medicines for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.
14. We
commend the Moscow Declaration of the First Global Ministerial Meeting on
Healthy Lifestyle and Non-communicable Diseases, support the High-level Meeting
of the UN General Assembly on Non- communicable Diseases and commit to
collectively explore ways to implement the agreements to be reached by
September 2011. We welcome the holding, in Rio de Janeiro, next October, of the
World Conference on the Social Determinants of Health.
15. We
are committed to the full implementation of agreements reached at the High
Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS of the United Nations General Assembly (8-10 June,
2011).
16. We
emphasize the importance and the need of technology transfer as a means to
empower developing countries and enable them to establish efficient health
systems. In this context, we underlined the important role of generic medicines
in the realization of the right to health.
17. We
acknowledge the need to establish priorities in research and development as
well as cooperation among BRICS countries, including between stakeholders from
the public and private sector, in order to support the transfer of technologies
and innovation in a sustainable way.
18. We
recall the important role the BRICS countries have played in the development of
the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and
Intellectual Property and reiterate our commitment to support the full
implementation of its provisions.
19. We
welcome the establishment of innovative mechanisms to promote transfer of and
access to key health-related technologies where feasible to enhance the
availability of affordable medicines in developing countries.
20.
Aiming to ensure access to affordable, safe and effective technologies and to
expand health benefits, we will foster cooperation among our countries to make
available and improve health technology.
21. We
are exploring new opportunities for BRICS countries to support the work of
health-related international organizations and to benefit from such
collaboration. We reiterate our support to UN agencies and programs in this
regard, as well as our commitment to further explore bilateral technical
cooperation initiatives with developing countries in partnership with WHO,
UNAIDS and other UN agencies, as well as global health programs such as the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GAVI alliance and the
UNITAID.
22. We
are determined to ensure that bilateral and regional trade agreements do not
undermine TRIPS flexibilities. We support the TRIPS safeguards and are
committed to work together with other developing countries to preserve and
promote, to the full, the provisions contained in the Doha Declaration on TRIPS
and Public Health and of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public
Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. We also support the full
implementation of Human Rights Council Resolution 12/24 on access to medicine
in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health. In addition, we support the
development of innovative mechanisms of transfer of intellectual property
rights for priority technologies, to open avenues for BRICS countries to supply
these medicines to low and middle income countries.
23. We
agree to establish a technical working group to discuss specific proposals,
including the idea of setting up a BRICS network of technological cooperation,
taking into account of a possible BRICS Health Ministers` Meeting in September,
2011, in conjunction with the UN High Level Meeting on Non-communicable
Diseases.
Keywords: BRICS / Health Ministers / Beijing / Declaration