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WHO praises BRICS for healthcare achievements
January 12, 2013, 5:49 pm

[AP]

The WHO has highlighted the work of BRICS countries[AP]

The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has praised India and the other BRICS countries for their efforts to develop vaccines, lower the price of medicines and contribute to universal healthcare.

Addressing the second annual meeting of BRICS health ministers in New Delhi, Dr Margret Chan, the WHO’s Director-General, highlighted the UN’s successful assessment of India’s national regulatory authority for vaccines.

Her statement, made from Geneva, said that India had successfully paved the way for the pre-qualification of individual vaccines and their international marketing.

She also said BRICS were leading the way in providing universal healthcare to populations.

“This success provides yet another example of how BRICS countries, in their drive to achieve domestic excellence, are contributing to better health throughout the developing world,” she said.

“These countries have become the principal source of generic medicines and several public health vaccines on the global market. BRICS countries have changed the dynamics of this market, getting prices down and improving the reliability of supplies,” she added.

In his opening remarks to the BRICS ministers on Friday, India’s Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad confirmed that the member states would work together to meet global public health aspirations.

Source: Agencies