GLOBAL HEALTH DIPLOMACY AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SOFT POWER IN BRAZIL CHINA RELATIONS

Abstract

As a result of significant economic growth, driven by increased international trade and the densification of urban populations – leading to a faster global transmission of diseases – health has been a top priority in global governance in recent decades. The coordination between national public policies and international cooperation efforts to address public health challenges has become crucial and acknowledged by the majority of the states in the international system (Ibanez et. al., 2022 Ibanez, 2020). This acknowledgment – together with the awareness of the “globalization of disease” (Fidler, 2004) – conduces to the use of Global Health Diplomacy (GHD) as an instrument of foreign policy and soft power. Due to its ever-growing role in the international arena, China has made efforts to play a more relevant role in health governance, especially in the Global South. In turn, as Brazil has a long tradition and experience in GHD, and being both Brazil and China countries that are commercial partners and integrate the BRICS, it is quite relevant to understand the evolution of their relationship in the sphere of GHD and governance across time. In this paper, by means of a literature review of scientific papers relevant in the field, we use a perspective based on bilateralism to i) outline both China’s and Brazil’s positioning towards health diplomacy between 2013 and 2023, and ii) analyse their articulation in this realm within the context of the BRICS. The evolution of such relationship with health diplomacy at the core has been turbulent depending on political leaderships and their respective political programs; however, this study enables us to identify the challenges and point out best practices and potential reinforcing partnerships for the achievement of better health for all and sustainable development.