The fourth BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting was held in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital, on December 5. Brazilian Health Minister Arthur Chioro, South African Health Minister Pakishe Aaron Motsoaledi, Indian Vice-Health Minister Vishwa Mohan Katoch and Russian Vice-Health Minister Kostennikov Dmitry attended the meeting. More than 50 representatives from the WHO, UNAIDS, STOP TB Partnership and relevant embassies in Brazil attended the meeting. Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), led a delegation attending the meeting and delivered a speech.

Li said in her speech that BRICS countries are playing an increasingly important role in global health affairs. During the past year, in order to carry out the consensus of the third BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting, China deepened cooperation with BRICS, held a global health diplomacy advanced training course and medicine innovation and cooperation forum, as well as participated in a BRICS tuberculosis seminar.

Li introduced the situation of China’s healthcare reform and the experience of preventing and treating chronic and non-infectious diseases. She said that Ebola outbreaks in West African countries show the importance and necessity of strengthening the healthcare system. The Chinese government has provided a total of 750 million yuan in aid to West African Ebola-affected areas and relevant international and regional organizations. China has dispatched more than 600 medical staff and public health experts to Ebola-affected areas for training local staff, doing laboratory testing, observing and treating suspected cases. China will be willing to cooperate with BRICS in the prevention and treatment for AIDS, tuberculosis, infectious diseases and chronic diseases. It will also increase the accessibility of drugs in BRICS and low and middle income countries, upgrading people’s health conditions.

The meeting was organized by the Brazilian health ministry. Dr Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO, and José Graziano da Silva, director general of the FAO, delivered speeches through the video. The meeting discussed the topics of Ebola and tuberculosis prevention and treatment, chronic and non-infectious diseases, and medicine research and development. The meeting agreed to hold the fifth BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting in Russia in 2015. It also released a joint communiqué and held a press conference. The BRICS Health Technology Meeting and Senior Health Officials’ Meeting were also held from December 2 to 4.

During the meeting, Li Bin met with the Brazilian health minister. Both sides reached an agreement in further cooperation and formulated a joint work plan for health cooperation between the two nations from 2015-2018. Li also visited the Brasilia Children Hospital.

Relevant people from the Chinese embassy in Brazil as well as people in charge of the NHFPC’s General Office; Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control; Department of Health Science, Technology and Education; and Department of International Cooperation attended the activities.