This paper addresses the role of health in Brazil’s health diplomacy and international cooperation since the emergence of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), focusing in particular on South-South cooperation, in line with the priorities of the country’s international technical cooperation since its creation. It highlights the relationship with the Latin American and Caribbean Countries (LAC) and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), more specifically, with the Portuguese Speaking African Countries (PALOP) and East Timor. It emphasizes the roles of the Ministry of Health, through the International Advisory Working Group on Health (AISA) and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The article points out that the TC-41 Co-operation Agreement is one of the main instruments for enabling cooperation. It presents the cases of the structuring networks of health systems, as well as the paradigmatic negotiations of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the TRIPS Agreement and the establishment of UNITAIDS, in which Brazilian diplomacy had a predominant role.