Editorials 466 In recent decades, the influence of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) within the international arena has increased enormously. 1 These countries represent around 25% of the world's gross national income, more than 40% of the world's population and about 30% of the world's land area. 2 Although much attention has been paid to their economic perf...

Editorials 386 The influence of the BRICS countries – Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa – in the international arena has risen enormously in recent decades. These five countries represent around 25% of the world's gross national income, more than 40% of the world's population and about 40% of the global burden of disease. Although great attention has been paid to the...

BACKGROUND Large numbers of people are suffering from a group of diseases that mainly affect developing countries, as there are no available or affordable products for prevention or treatment. Research and development (R&D) for these diseases is still a low priority on the health agenda. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are quickly growing economies and having more and more...

The objective of this work is to elucidate various essential drugs in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries. It discusses the opportunities and challenges of the existing biotech infrastructure and the production of drugs and vaccines in member states of the BRICS. This research is based on a systematic literature review between the years 2000 and 2014 of documents...

This article explores BRICS' engagement in the global movement for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and the implications for global health governance. It is based on primary data collected from 43 key informant interviews, complemented by a review of BRICS' global commitments supporting UHC. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire that included both closed- and open-ended...

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are noted for their increasing participation in science and technology. The governments of these countries have been boosting their investments in research and development to become part of the group of nations doing research at a world-class level. This study investigates the development of the BRICS countries in the domain o...

The bulk of food industry FDI to the BRICS seems to have gone to China and Brazil. FDI has contributed to industrial structural change and to changes in consumption patterns in the host countries. It has mainly focused on high value added subsectors and in concentrated markets. In spite of this, rivalry between foreign investors and the emergence of strong domestic firms has introduced some com...

OBJECTIVE To explore the presence and magnitude of--and change in--socioeconomic and health inequalities between and within Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa--the countries known as BRICS--between 1990 and 2010. METHODS Comparable data on socioeconomic and health indicators, at both country and primary subnational levels, were obtained from publicly available sourc...

Editorials 387 With a rapidly expanding consumer market , African countries have new opportunities to strengthen their manufacturing sectors. The current climate of rising foreign investment will boost national economies and has the potential to benefit the health sector too. African countries now have a historic opportunity to free themselves from a vicious cycle of poverty, disease and depend...