- Honorable Ministers of Health from BRICS countries
- Distinguished members of the country delegations
- Representative of the Executive Director of UNAIDS
- Ladies and gentleman,
Good afternoon,
On behalf of Dr Margaret Chan, the Director General of WHO, I thank you for the opportunity to address this meeting.
I am pleased to know that this 3rd meeting focuses on issues of shared concerns with WHO – such as 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.
After listening to your reports, I realized that great progress has been made since the onset of the BRICS health ministerial meetings. You have set a common agenda, which has evolved in terms of joint strategic thinking, including the establishment of thematic working groups led by each one of the five countries.
Take universal health coverage, for example. This is a global endeavor for which most countries are striving. It implies not only equitable health policies but also the organization and financing of relevant health infrastructure to enable individuals to access quality health care according to their needs – as well as protecting them from catastrophic financial consequences when they fall ill.
One of WHO’s leadership priorities for the next 6 years is “to enable countries to sustain or expand access to essential health services and financial protection and promoting universal health coverage as a unifying concept in global health.” (WHO 12th GPW)
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.
Under research and development of medicines and other health technologies, it is important to recall that many people continue to face scarcity or lack access to essential medicines. In 2011, WHO conducted a survey in low and middle-income countries, which revealed that, in the public sector, the average availability of selected generic medicines was only 51%.
Increasing access to essential, high-quality and affordable medical products is one of the six WHO leadership priorities. I would like to remind you that BRICS countries have world-class researchers and strong pharmaceutical industries. We applaud your endeavors towards building capacity for local production of essential medicines in African countries - where they are needed the most. However, these efforts should go along with the strengthening of regulatory capacities that is crucial to ensure quality production of medicines. This is part of the normative role of WHO in which we can support BRICS countries – in ensuring that investments in domestic pharmaceutical production will meet international standards.
On the reduction of risk factors for NCDs, I will start by saying that NCDs are now a major cause of death in all countries regardless of income level.
Take alcohol consumption, for example. The harmful use of alcohol remains a critical public health problem worldwide. Tobacco consumption -- quite remarkably -- is increasing in many low-income countries, and contributing-- for example in Africa -- to a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. The very high diseases burden increases the demand for quality health services and its cost. The financial sustainability of health systems is therefore threatened in countries facing economic downturn, while in developed economies health care costs continue to rise combined with ever higher public demand for expensive health technologies.
Honorable Ministers, I appreciate your longstanding leadership and encourage your actions in championing the promotion of healthier lifestyles and behaviors, while taking steps towards strengthening health infrastructure capacity.
About communicable diseases, I would like to remind the group of the continued high burden of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria globally, which affects Sub-Saharan Africa more than any other region of the world. These are MDG-related goals that should remain global priorities beyond 2015. As referred to by the Honorable Minister of Health from South Africa during his opening statement, the last World Health Assembly in May 2013 proposed an overarching health goal that should include: accelerating the health related MDG agenda, reducing the burden of NCDs, and ensuring universal health coverage and access. We encourage the BRICS to actively engage in discussions on the post-2015 agenda to ensure that health remains central to sustainable development.
Take tuberculosis, for example. BRICS countries are among those that face a high burden of TB. China, India, Russian Federation, and South Africa have also a high burden of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). South Africa is also dealing with high rates of HIV/TB co-infection. This is an area in which BRICS can accelerate disease prevention and control efforts, with significant impact on global health trends.
WHO is committed to work with you towards reducing the burden of communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDs, TB, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases (WHO 12th GPW).
We would like to take this opportunity to recognize the important achievements by our host, the Honorable Minister of Health in South Africa, in enabling access to health care for the whole population through universal coverage reform, increasing access to treatment and care for HIV patients, rapidly scaling up diagnostics for TB.
Finally, let me refer to the process of reform in the World Health Organization. WHO is moving from the 11th to the 12th General Program of Work established for the period of 2014-2019. We greatly appreciate the contributions of your countries to the process of change, and your active participation in these debates. We applaud your commitments to support the implementation of the program budget for 2014-15, and the WHO financing dialogue initiated this year. This shows your support to strengthen the leadership role of WHO in global health.
In closing, let me emphasize that BRICS countries occupy a unique place in the global health community. The partnership between WHO and BRICS is growing for mutual benefit.
Today, we gained more insights about your common concerns, and shared vision that could be of great value in your countries and worldwide.
I wish you the best successes in your public health undertakings.
Thank you.