Bill Gates praises Pakistan’s efforts to combat polio and Covid-19.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke by phone with Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, about issues of mutual concern, including polio eradication in Pakistan and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The prime minister praised the Gates Foundation’s efforts to combat poverty, sickness, and unfairness around the world. “He praised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s work in Pakistan in particular,” the PM Office said in a statement.
Bill Gates praised Pakistan’s recent polio eradication efforts, reaffirmed his commitment to polio eradication, and praised Pakistan’s successful Covid-19 vaccination campaign. He also promised that the Gates Foundation will continue to help.
Despite hurdles posed by the current Covid-19 outbreak, PM Imran emphasised that polio eradication remained a top priority for the government, and efforts are underway to ramp up the anti-polio campaign across the country.
He also said that Pakistan continues to make progress in 2021, with a dramatic decrease in polio cases, with only one case reported for the entire year.
The prime minister praised the Gates Foundation’s vigorous advocacy for equal access to Covid-19 vaccines, but emphasised the necessity of equitable, timely, and scaled distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to help low-income countries mitigate the pandemic’s social and economic effects.
“The prime minister and Gates agreed to continue working together on the shared objectives.”
