Proposed BRICS Development Bank Should Focus On Improving Population Health

“Leaders of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations met in Durban, South Africa, last week (March 26-27), for their fifth annual summit, and made an intriguing decision: to establish between them a new development bank,” a Lancet editorial states. “The bank would mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and could one day rival the World Bank and International Monetary Fund,” the journal writes, adding, “However, the BRICS leaders could not reach an agreement over the bank’s size and infrastructure at the summit.”

“Some observers have since speculated that it could take years to negotiate contributions from the countries, the location of the headquarters, and the appointment of a leader for this first BRICS institution,” the editorial continues. The article highlights a number of additional issues, noting that “in the final communiqué from the summit, health issues were notably absent” and “there was no mention of the Delhi communiqué, agreed by the BRICS health ministers in January, which identified several priority areas for the nations.” The editorial concludes, “These issues are hard to ignore, especially as they represent threats to both the health and economies of these nations. If a BRICS development bank does emerge, a focus on improving population health could be its wisest investment” (4/6).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.