The Minister of State for Health, Dr Adekunle Salako has called for collaboration between Nigeria and BRICS countries on pharmaceutical and biomedical research on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), phytomedicine development, and academic exchanges.

Salako also advocated partnership and knowledge-sharing across the BRICS health community to collectively advance sustainable healthcare financing and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all.

Speaking at the 15th BRICS Health Ministers meeting in Brazil, Salako said collective efforts at addressing global health challenges would not only be complementary to individual countries’ efforts but act as an impetus to ensure that Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Goal 3 is collectively achieved.

The minister urged more global solidarity to share best practices and resources to achieve and create a more equitable world. Global health is currently faced with several interconnected challenges including rising incidences of non-communicable diseases, the constant threat of pandemics, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, health system disparities, pollution, civil unrest, wars and shrinking funding ecosystem.

Salako stated that the BRICS Health Ministers platform provides the opportunity for some of the most populous countries in the world to work together to address some of the most pressing health challenges facing humanity.

He said, “The world has learnt that in the face of our different economies and society’s heavy reliance on international trade and travels, the doctrines of universal health coverage, health security and pandemic preparedness are global agenda that transcends borders.”

The minister observed that as BRICS nations, health challenges are more similar and the opportunity to learn from one another more plausible, adding that Nigeria is implementing the health sector renewal investment initiative in the country.

He explained that the initiative rests on four pillars of effective governance, efficient, equitable and quality health system, unlocking healthcare value chains and health security with digitalisation, data management, strategic financing, smarter spending and work culture transformation as cross-cutting themes.

Salako noted that Nigeria is putting greater emphasis on domestic resources mobilisation, increasing capacity to produce pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and other critical health sector inputs. “We are revitalising our primary health care system, promoting pool procurement, developing our phytomedicine resources, expanding access to social health insurance, and upscaling the deployment of digital technology and AI.

“We are prioritising health promotion and disease prevention. We have introduced the HPV vaccine into our routine immunization schedule and as of May 2025 vaccinated over 14 million girls (9 -14 years old).”

“We are also addressing the social determinants of health and introducing policies to reduce the modifiable risk factors of non-communicable diseases. Nigeria currently leads the implementation of PEN-PLUS in the Afro region to address some NCDs, especially Sickle Cell Disease, Type I Diabetes, Rheumatic Heart Disease and Childhood Cancers.”