Health ministers from the BRICS countries (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) have agreed to strengthen their surveillance capacity and health-care services to respond to infectious diseases, such HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. They adopted a joint communiqué during the opening ceremony of the BRICS high-level meeting on traditional medicine, which is being held in Tianjin, China, on 6 and 7 July.

The high-level participants noted that while significant progress has been made in the global AIDS response, the epidemic is not yet over. They committed to collective action and sustained leadership to fully implement the 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS in order to achieve the 90–90–90 targets by 2020 and end AIDS by 2030.

The BRICS countries are home to one third of the 36.7 million people living with HIV globally, and accounted for a third of the 2.1 million new HIV infections in 2015. The countries are taking responsibility for funding their AIDS response, with contributions ranging from 75% to 95% of all resources available for HIV in their respective countries. However, the resources available for the AIDS response in the BRICS countries represent only half of the resources they need to meet the 90–90–90 targets and the other Fast-Track commitments.