Chloe Maluleke and Dr Iqbal Survé|Published
Iran has asked BRICS to give health cooperation a proper structure. Speaking on TV BRICS’s “BRICSdialogue”, Shahid Beheshti University epidemiologist Ahmad Mehri proposed a standing health diplomacy platform. It would connect officials, specialised universities, medical associations, researchers and private companies, with one test of success: practical projects that improve people’s health.
The timing suits the bloc. BRICS already has the building blocks of health cooperation, but they sit in separate tracks. The Vaccine R&D Centre began as a cloud platform linking research institutions and vaccine developers, with a physical facility planned later. South Africa first proposed it during its 2018 chairship. This July’s health ministers’ meeting in Chandigarh reviewed nine priority areas, including tuberculosis research, pandemic preparedness, digital health architecture and regulatory convergence for medicines. A platform with regular contact among all the relevant players would tie these tracks together. It would also reach the universities and companies that ministerial meetings seldom involve.
Training is the most immediately useful element. Mehri wants agreements that let students, residents and specialists study and train at Iranian universities and clinics, with Iranian professionals learning from partners in return. Demand already exists: according to Iranian government posts, Indonesia’s health minister asked Tehran to help train Indonesian medical specialists at Iranian universities. The capacity is real. A study using 2020 data counted around 900 hospitals, over 14,000 residents in specialty training and roughly 40,000 specialists and sub-specialists. Reciprocal exchange builds a shared workforce and personal networks that outlast political cycles.
The proposed research agenda also matches members’ needs. Mehri named infectious, cancer and cardiovascular disease, ageing, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and digital healthcare. Ageing populations, rising non-communicable disease and the lessons of COVID-19 are common to the bloc. South Africa’s science minister has already urged the vaccine centre to harness AI and big data. Joint programmes spread costs, enlarge trial populations and stop members duplicating each other’s work.
Access to medicines is where the logic is strongest. Iranian officials say they want to use BRICS capacity to secure essential health supplies despite sanctions, focusing on pharmaceutical raw materials, health technologies and medical equipment. Every member would gain from pooled supply chains and regulatory cooperation. Tehran has backed information exchange, reliance on credible assessments and fewer duplicated procedures. Harmonised approvals mean safe, affordable medicines reach patients sooner, which is central to the bloc’s promise of equitable access. An Iranian foreign ministry page claims the country makes over 96% of its pharmaceuticals domestically. That figure is self-reported, but it suggests a useful manufacturing partner.
Health diplomacy is also politically cheap and strategically valuable. Few fields offer such clear shared interest, so consensus is easier than on finance or security, and citizens can see the results. Iran says its approach prioritises consensus while preserving the authority of national regulators, which is the right posture for a bloc of diverse, sovereign members. Tehran is also exploring joint insurance arrangements with BRICS and regional bodies to make treating foreign patients easier, pointing to medical-travel opportunities for cost-conscious populations.
There are caveats. A platform is only as good as its governance, so funding, quality standards and data-sharing rules need to be settled early. Sanctions and geopolitical tension could also complicate how some members participate. Mehri’s claims about Iranian medicine are self-assessments, and joint evaluation through the platform itself could verify them. That scrutiny would add credibility rather than undermine the project.
The core idea is still sound: turn warm declarations into regular, accountable, practical cooperation. If BRICS wants to show it can deliver tangible gains for the Global South, health is a sensible place to start.
Written by:
*Dr Iqbal Survé
Past chairman of the BRICS Business Council and co-chairman of the BRICS Media Forum and the BRNN
*Chloe Maluleke
Associate at BRICS+ Consulting Group
Russia & Middle East Specialist
**The Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.
** MORE ARTICLES ON OUR WEBSITE https://bricscg.com/
** Follow @brics_daily on Twitter for daily BRICS+ updates and instagram @brics_daily