The sixth global health diplomacy senior training class opened in Beijing from August 18 to 22. Health officials, professionals and policy researchers from BRICS member countries, including Brazil, India, South Africa and China, attended the class.

Ma Xiaowei, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC); Brazilian, Russian, Indian and South African diplomatic envoys to China; as well as the WHO’s representative in China attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Ma said that the BRICS nations are not only the leaders of global economic growth, but also the managers of global health. This year’s training class especially set up the topic “The BRICS and Global Health,” aiming to promote mutual understanding between BRICS countries. It explored how BRICS countries can play a more important role in the global health sector.

The training class discussed hot issues, including the challenges faced by global health management and global health diplomacy, how BRICS countries build up diplomacy on global health, and what role it should play in WHO and other health organizations.

The people in charge of the department of international cooperation at the NHFPC and the department of international economic affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced the role of China in the global health sector, the relationship of China, and BRICS countries and policies. Experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shared their experiences in aiding West Africa’s fight against Ebola.

The Geneva Institute for Advanced Study has cooperated with the Chinese government and Peking University to hold the global health diplomacy training class annually since 2009. This year is the sixth time the event has been held. It is supported by the department of International Cooperation at the NHFPC, the UK Department for International Development, the WHO and the China Health Human Resource Center. Famous scholars, professionals and diplomats rich in health negotiation experiences from China, Switzerland, Canada, Pakistan and the WHO serve as teachers for the training class.