MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. During its presidency of the BRICS group, Russia, along with other member states, will address healthcare issues, Batyr Berdyklychev, head of the WHO office in Russia, said.

"In addition to traditional cooperation, the WHO has other crucial mechanisms and associations that enable countries to join efforts in addressing healthcare issues. I would mention such mechanisms as the CIS Healthcare Cooperation Council and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly <…> And perhaps, the latest quite powerful assembly with growing influence is the BRICS group. You know that the Russian Federation is holding presidency this year and a range of events on a variety of healthcare issues has been scheduled with these countries. These mechanisms are mostly complementary, but they help groups of countries to solve similar healthcare problems," he said at the Healthy Life Forum.

"Of course, the World Health Organization is also actively engaged, and we are happy to provide support via these platforms," Berdyklychev added.

Among the health challenges, the WHO representative mentioned a spike in chronic and noncommunicable diseases, the increasing number of patients with comorbid conditions, as well as the risks related to cybersecurity and protection of personal medical information.