BRICS as a New Center of Power in Global Health: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the importance of health issues on the international agenda. However, the World Health Organization, responsible for combating the global spread of diseases, is facing a serious crisis. In this regard, negotiation platforms are becoming necessary to complement the WHO’s functions and allow States to coordinate their policies in this area. Aim and tasks. The study aims to identify the factors contributing to and hindering the BRICS emergence as a new center of power in global health. It presumes consistent accomplishment of the following tasks: tracing the genesis of health issues on the BRICS agenda; characterizing the BRICS health initiatives in the pre-pandemic period; identifying changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic; and analyzing the impact of the BRICS expansion on the global health agenda. Methods. The study relies on an interdisciplinary approach that promotes a comprehensive analysis of the research issue. The primary sources are WHO’s documents, declarations of BRICS summits and health ministers’ meetings, government materials, speeches by officials, statistical data, expert assessments, etc. Results. The stages of BRICS health initiatives are highlighted. The key achievements and challenges of each stage are described. The importance of vaccine diplomacy in the foreign policy of the group’s “Eurasian core” - Russia, India, and China (the RIC triangle) - is revealed. The opportunities and limitations for increasing the influence of “BRICS plus” format on global health agenda are identified. Conclusions. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that the role of BRICS in global health depends, on the one hand, on the desire of the group’s members to translate their vision and political will into concrete actions, and on the other hand, on the emerging world order.