BRICS nations establish early warning system for infectious disease outbreaks

BRICS leaders call for stronger cooperation in disease surveillance, medical product regulation

The BRICS grouping has approved the creation of a dedicated sub-working group to build an integrated early warning system aimed at preventing and responding to mass infectious disease outbreaks, marking a significant step toward collective health security among the member nations.

In the New Delhi Declaration issued on Saturday, the leaders underscored the importance of enhancing global health security through resilient surveillance systems, effective early warning mechanisms, and strengthened preparedness and response capacities. The sub-working group, whose Terms of Reference have been formally welcomed, is designed to strengthen collective preparedness against infectious disease threats through closer coordination among member countries and faster sharing of information.

Transcending national borders

The leaders acknowledged that infectious disease outbreaks, zoonotic threats, antimicrobial resistance and other public health emergencies do not respect national borders and require strengthened international cooperation, timely information sharing and coordinated collective action. Recognising the central role of the World Health Organization and the amended International Health Regulations (2005), they underscored the importance of resilient surveillance, early warning and rapid response systems and coordination.

"Acknowledging that infectious disease outbreaks, zoonotic threats, antimicrobial resistance and other public health emergencies transcend national borders and require strengthened international cooperation, timely information sharing and coordinated collective action, we underscore the importance of enhancing global health security through resilient surveillance systems, effective early warning mechanisms, and strengthened preparedness and response capacities," the declaration stated.

Expanding regulatory cooperation

The declaration called for greater regulatory cooperation to ensure that medical products remain available, accessible and meet standards of quality, safety and efficacy across BRICS countries. The leaders encouraged strengthened collaboration among BRICS Medical Products Regulatory Authorities by extending the scope of the existing Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of medical products regulation to the Regulatory Authorities of all BRICS member countries.

They reiterated the importance of strengthening collaborative regulatory approaches to ensure the continued availability and accessibility of quality, safe and efficacious medical products. The leaders also called for strengthened collaboration among BRICS medical products regulatory authorities and welcomed efforts to develop a common GxP white paper consolidating regulatory best practices and technical approaches.

Consolidating best practices

The leaders welcomed the collective efforts of BRICS regulatory authorities in developing the BRICS GxP White Paper, which consolidates best practices of regulatory experience and technical approaches. The GxP refers broadly to good-practice standards followed in areas such as manufacturing, laboratory and clinical processes, with the common framework expected to facilitate greater sharing of regulatory experience and technical approaches among member countries.

Strengthening domestic capacity

The declaration stressed the importance of strengthening health infrastructure and local production of medical products to enhance preparedness for future health emergencies and ensure timely, affordable and equitable access to healthcare services, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. The leaders linked health security with stronger domestic health infrastructure and local production of medical products, calling for greater preparedness for future health emergencies.

"We emphasize the importance of strengthening health infrastructure and local production of medical products, enhancing preparedness for future health emergencies through stronger surveillance systems, laboratory networks, leveraging digital health technology and Artificial Intelligence," the declaration stated.

They also called for technical cooperation among public health institutes, development of robust regulatory frameworks, skilled health workforces and collaborative research and development. The declaration stressed that these measures were needed to improve access to healthcare products and services and strengthen the capacity of BRICS countries to respond collectively to health emergencies.

Digital health and research cooperation

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to people-centred digital healthcare systems and welcomed the BRICS Compendium on Digital Health Architecture for Continuum of Care, including access to healthcare in remote areas. They also supported the activities of the BRICS Vaccine Research and Development Centre and recognised the importance of collaboration in nuclear medicine.

The leaders welcomed the activities of the BRICS Nuclear Medicine Working Group and noted the importance of the BRICS Health Journal in disseminating research findings and promoting scientific cooperation within the BRICS framework. The declaration also emphasised the importance of sharing experiences, innovations and best practices among BRICS countries to improve health outcomes and advance universal health coverage.

The comprehensive health security framework outlined in the New Delhi Declaration reflects the BRICS grouping's recognition that preparing for and responding to health emergencies requires coordinated action across surveillance, regulation, manufacturing capacity, digital infrastructure and research cooperation. The establishment of the integrated early warning system sub-working group represents a concrete institutional mechanism to operationalise this multilateral approach to pandemic preparedness.

Source: The Hindu