India leads with a national telemedicine framework, including a dedicated satellite-linked centre in Lucknow and plans to deploy 1,500 rural clinics connected via satellite. Brazil has established a university-based telemedicine network serving hundreds of hospitals across Latin America and the Caribbean. In Russia, pandemic-driven advancements yielded a unified diagnostic system where polyclinics and hospitals are linked to a central hub, complemented by AI-enabled medical decision-support systems. Russian universities collaborate with counterparts in India, Iran, Brazil, and South Africa to offer remote masterclasses, surgery broadcasts, and shared lectures, and joint telemedicine courses are being developed with the University of Tehran. 

Nuclear Medicine: 

The BRICS bloc is also prioritising high-end healthcare through nuclear medicine cooperation. At the 2023 BRICS Working Group on Nuclear Medicine’s inaugural meeting in Moscow, members agreed to jointly advance diagnostics and treatments using radiopharmaceuticals. Russia notably is one of the largest global suppliers. Nations cite nuclear medicine as key to personalised, high-precision care across oncological and non-oncological diseases, expanding regional capacity for quality-of-life improvements. 

Health Policy Meets SDGs: 

In June 2025, the 15th BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting in Brazil, convened by PAHO/WHO, advanced a joint Declaration on deepening healthcare cooperation. BRICS countries—representing 40% of the global population, reaffirmed commitments to equitable access to medicines, vaccine R&D, pandemic preparation, AI in healthcare, and expansion of health research. Also central to discussion was preventing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through better diets – a shared priority given NCDs account for 71% of global deaths. Strategies included food labeling, sugary beverage taxes, and marketing regulation. 

Home-Grown Innovation: 

India’s private sector is accelerating domestic healthcare innovation. Meril Life Sciences, a leading medical-device firm, pioneered the indigenously developed Myval transcatheter aortic heart valve (TAVR) in 2018 – the country’s first TAVR system approved for global markets. In 2021, it launched the MeRes100 bioresorbable stent, followed by MISSO, a robotic system for precise orthopedic joint replacement surgery. Most recently, in 2025, Meril introduced MyClip, an Indian-developed transcatheter device for minimally invasive mitral valve repair, offering cutting-edge treatment in cardiac care. 

Health Innovation: 

Across BRICS, medical innovation is no longer isolated, it’s central to sovereignty, economic development, and health resilience. Telehealth by India, Brazil, and Russia is narrowing rural healthcare gaps; nuclear medicine cooperation offers new frontiers in personalised therapies; and India’s device manufacturing reduces reliance on imports while expanding regional capacity. At the healthcare summit, ministerial leadership underscored solidarity and shared learning as engines for scaling equitable outcomes.

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 

Russian & Middle Eastern Specialist

**The Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.

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