Enhancing Health Diplomacy in BRICS

The document argues that BRICS failed to harness the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for collective health diplomacy, instead relying on bilateral arrangements and national interests. Despite declarations of cooperation, there were no 'all-BRICS' partnerships for vaccine development, and the bloc experienced significant discord over the transparency and approval of vaccines like Russia's Sputnik V and India's Covaxin. The author highlights a lack of a dedicated BRICS health institution and recommends the creation of a collaborative think tank, a joint research centre, and a formal pandemic intervention protocol to move from 'vaccine nationalism' toward effective science diplomacy and technology transfer.

• BRICS failed to establish a collective, bloc-wide partnership for COVID-19 vaccine development and research, with member states instead pursuing individual national interests and bilateral agreements.
• The bloc exhibited significant internal discord regarding the safety, transparency, and regulatory approval of vaccines developed by its own members, such as Russia's Sputnik V and India's Covaxin.
• While South Africa and India petitioned the WTO for a TRIPS waiver to allow low- and middle-income countries to bypass patent enforcement for COVID-19 medical products, the BRICS bloc missed the opportunity to use this as a unified push for multilateralism.
• A primary structural weakness in BRICS health diplomacy is the absence of a dedicated regional health institution equivalent to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to coordinate action plans.
• The document identifies a trend of 'bi-lateralization' within BRICS, where members limit cooperation when interests diverge, which undermines the development of a common narrative on global health crises.
• To improve future responses, the author recommends that BRICS establish a collaborative think tank on health and medicine, a joint research centre, and formal intervention protocols for pandemics.

APA

SOBANE, K. (2023). Enhancing Health Diplomacy in BRICS. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SAIIA_PI-143_EnhancingHealthDiplomacy.pdf

Chicago

SOBANE, KONOSOANG. Enhancing Health Diplomacy in BRICS. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2023. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SAIIA_PI-143_EnhancingHealthDiplomacy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=SOBANE |first1=KONOSOANG |title=Enhancing Health Diplomacy in BRICS |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=April 2023 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SAIIA_PI-143_EnhancingHealthDiplomacy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sobane2023enhancing, author = {SOBANE, KONOSOANG}, title = {{Enhancing Health Diplomacy in BRICS}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SAIIA_PI-143_EnhancingHealthDiplomacy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }