BRICS: potential for cooperation and role in global health governance in the pandemic frame

Abstract

The main argument of the article is that the BRICS countries have been consolidating and expanding their cooperation in the area of ​​health, in which they show important complementarities, and that, by acting in coordination, they contribute to establish a new power dynamic in the field of international health that challenge interests of the States and their Transnational Companies that concentrate this market, especially in the pandemic global frame. The health sector is widely approached, but with a special focus on the pharmaceutical industry, a sector considered as strategic because it is fundamental for political stability, socioeconomic development and national security. The article presents considerations on the American national security strategy regarding health. It then addresses the vulnerabilities and potential for health cooperation in the BRICS countries in terms of market and universal access to health, access to technologies and combating neglected diseases, the bloc's relationship with global governance in health, and finally concerning the pandemic scenario and the geopolitics of vaccines. It is based on information and data from specialized health institutions, government or BRICS documents, and in a bibliography of authors specialized in international health.