New Delhi: Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya complimented South Africa’s initiatives for prioritizing the agenda of Universal Health Coverage and said that its BRICS "initiative is aligned with India’s G20 priorities."

Addressing the BRICS Health Minister’s Meeting, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare said, "South Africa’s BRICS initiative is aligned with India’s G20 priorities including on health emergency management, medical countermeasures and most specifically Digital Health innovations and solutions which shall aid Universal Health Coverage and improve healthcare service delivery," according to the statement released by Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

He complimented South Africa’s initiatives for prioritizing the agenda of Universal Health Coverage through the theme of “Bridging the Gap on Sustainable Health on the Road to UHC 2023”.

At the meeting, Mandaviya stated that India's G20 Presidency has provided a distinctive platform to amplify the concerns of the Global South, benefiting from its role as both the predecessor (Indonesia) and the successor (Brazil) are in the G20 Troika.

The union minister expressed India’s support for South Africa’s initiative to strengthen cooperation in the field of Integrated Early Warning systems and Russia’s initiative for BRICS Collaboration in Nuclear Medicine

“The collaboration shall play a pivotal role in designing effective interventions to contain the cross-border spread of infection while minimizing their impact on BRICS countries’ social and economic conditions, in accordance with International Health Regulations (2005)”, he noted.

He also reiterated India’s commitment to the BRICS TB Research Network Initiative, acknowledging the progress since its launch, and expressed that this shall strengthen our efforts in ending TB by 2030.

Mandaviya urged BRICS nations to implement the outcomes of the meeting with a sense of urgency and commitment and thanked the Ministry of Health, South Africa for organizing the constructive engagement. He also expressed his best wishes to Russia for the upcoming BRICS Presidency.

Formed as BRIC and later joined by South Africa, BRICS stands as a beacon of economic optimism, presenting an alternative global order to challenge the dominance of traditional institutions.

This year, South Africa is chairing the BRICS which will host the prestigious 15th Summit in Johannesburg from 22nd to 24th August 2023 with great anticipation. Initially formed as BRIC, a visionary concept coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neil in 2001.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sent the invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the PM also accepted that.