When Kazakhstan quietly achieved the World Health Organisation’s goal of reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 25%, as the first Central Asian nation to do so, global headlines have been quiet. One can only wonder if this is because this milestone signals something larger than public health success. It represents the broader structural shift of the industrialisation of healthcare in the Global South as a foundation for economic sovereignty.
Development in the Global South has mostly been built around aid, imported solutions, and dependency on multinational supply chains. Imagining a Global South where industrialisation emerges from within is a new phenomenon that the west is still trying to understand and weigh the consequences of. Kazakhstan’s model of combining a network of 85 stroke centres, digitised emergency medical services, and state-driven R&D partnerships, is less about catching up to the West and more about building independent systems of production and capability, which is inherently not something we will Western media celebrate.
From Consumption to Capability
What sets Kazakhstan apart is not just that it met a WHO benchmark, but how it did so. The country’s health transformation was achieved through a deliberate industrial strategy of investing in medical technology, expanding manufacturing capacity for health products, and building local expertise.
In the 1990s, Kazakhstan’s health system was highly centralised and underfunded, relying on imports for everything from diagnostics to pharmaceuticals. Today, its model reflects a regional movement, trickling over into other countries.
Iran has developed an injectable nano iron supplement, the first of its kind and Russia now has a full-cycle human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The localisation of science and production as the backbone of sovereign development is now beginning to become a pattern in the Global South.
This kind of progress is often overlooked because it doesn’t fit the old narrative of industrialisation as heavy industry or export-led growth, but in the 21st century, the ability to build health technologies domestically is as strategically important as manufacturing cars or steel. It’s the infrastructure of human development and it signals that parts of the Global South are moving from being consumers of medical innovation to producers of it.
A Shift in Development Power
The significance of these advances extends beyond national borders. When a country like Kazakhstan builds internal capacity to tackle chronic diseases, it reduces dependency on imported pharmaceuticals and international aid. This independence, in turn, frees up fiscal space, strengthens domestic industries, and creates export potential in healthcare services and biotechnologies.
For example, Russia’s HPV vaccine production line in Kirov is expected to meet domestic demand by 2027, but it also creates regional supply opportunities, particularly for BRICS+ and Eurasian partners. Similarly, Iran’s new nano-iron formulation addresses local anaemia challenges but could serve as a cost-effective solution for Africa, where iron deficiency remains a leading cause of maternal health complications.
These are not isolated stories. They form part of reordering of development power. The Global South is no longer waiting for Western pharmaceutical giants to transfer technology, it is building its own. This, in turn, reshapes the global aid and trade architecture, with countries exchanging knowledge and products horizontally rather than vertically.
Lessons for the Future of Southern Development
The lesson here is that industrialisation in the Global South must now be measured by the ability to create self-sustaining systems, particularly in health, food, and technology. Kazakhstan’s success was not a miracle of GDP growth but of policy consistency, institutional investment, and public-private coordination. It shows that development can be both industrial and inclusive when states treat health not as social expenditure, but as a productive sector.
The global development community should take note. The next wave of industrialisation will not come from building factories for export; it will come from building capacities that keep societies functional and independent.
For African and BRICS-aligned economies, the path forward lies in this same model of local innovation, regional cooperation, and investment in knowledge-based production.
Written By:
*Dr Iqbal Survé
Past chairman of the BRICS Business Council and co-chairman of the BRICS Media Forum and the BRNN
*Chloe Maluleke
Associate at BRICS+ Consulting Group
Russian & Middle Eastern Specialist
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