India Hosts 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh from 22-24 July 2026

Key facts

• India convened the Sixteenth BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting in Chandigarh from 22 to 24 July 2026 as part of its BRICS Chairship 2026.
• The meeting brought together Health Ministers and senior officials from all eleven BRICS member countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.
• The guiding theme of India's BRICS Chairship 2026 is 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
• Discussions focused on health security, pandemic preparedness, digital health, access to affordable medicines, traditional and integrative medicine, tuberculosis, healthy lifestyles, mental wellness, and resilient health systems.
• India introduced two new priority areas under its chairship: the BRICS Mission for Healthy Lifestyle and Promotion of Mental Wellness.
• The BRICS Health Track was structured around nine priority areas including the BRICS TB Research Network, collaboration among medical products regulatory authorities, an integrated early warning system for mass infectious diseases, digital health architecture, and the BRICS Network of National Public Health Institutes.
• A high-level side event titled 'BRICS Dialogue: From Digital Health Records to AI-Enabled Healthcare' was held on 24 July focusing on interoperable digital health infrastructure and responsible artificial intelligence.
• This marked India's fourth BRICS Chairship, following previous tenures in 2012, 2016, and 2021.
• The meeting was chaired by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on 23 July, and the Senior Officials' Meeting took place on 22 July to finalise the draft Ministerial Declaration.