A major focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is eradicating polio in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: Famous American business magnate Bill Gates has sought Imran Khan’s cooperation to eradicate polio in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as the province apparently failed to provide security to polio workers.
Gates sent a personal letter through his emissary to chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PT) Imran Khan asking for his party's cooperation in furthering the anti polio vaccination programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said an official statement.
Imran Khan is scheduled to speak to him on the phone to discuss modalities of moving against polio which takes the lives of so many children in Pakistan especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Bill Gates commitment to polio eradication has resulted in his support for a massive anti polio programme in Pakistan.
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only countries where polio is endemic. Polio cases in Pakistan hit 198 in 2011, the highest figure for more than a decade and the most of any country in the world, according to the UN.
Last year the Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the Waziristan region, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage.
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mr gates thank u for your help in eradicating polio in india,,we will be always thankful..wish all country will be free from it...
@Rex Minor, how can you compare Gates to Mother Theresa? Gates is paying his legal share and why should you as a Pakistani care what we are paying? Your Muslim brothers the Arab nations can and should pay for the polio and other health care for the poor of Pakistan. You have been reading tabloid stories of Buffet he has always made it public is that his money is his to dispense and does not care what you think about it. The fact lies is that there are many rich people in Pakistan and yet it takes an American to come to your rescue in matter like this?
@Rex Minor: "...and then Mother Terresa who offered her life in the service of mankind and went to India to serve and share with them their poor life." . Before making such a fantastic claim, inform yourself. Read the article written by Christopher Hitchens exposing the scam this lady had masterfully carried out.
@Mirza:
What a comparison of Warren Buffet who pays less than 10% tax on his wealth in USA and Bill Gates whose objective has been not to pay even 10%, and then Mother Terresa who offered her life in the service of mankind and went to India to serve and share with them their poor life.
Let Warren Buffet and Bill Gates take care of the homeless and the poverty stricken people of America! Warren Buffet s a good father, considering that he refused to give his daughter a new kitchen on her birthday, simplly because it cost $80,000!
Agains all this praise for the billionaires, the European Union pays for more than 60% of the social pograms in the world.
Rex Minor
Interesting. Polio vaccine was invented by a Jew.
It is not the permission for vaccination,but safety of para-medics working in KPK.The people of KPK in particular & Pakistan in general remain thankful to Bill Gates for his donation & charity work he is already involved in Pakistan.Mr.Mrs.Bill Gates, thank you once again!!
@Ch. Allah Daad: "Soon Bill Gates will face biggest disappointment of his life. He thinks that an Oxford graduate who plays English sport is a bright, modern and progressive person." . Bill Gates should have cross checked, who IK's comrade-in-arms are. They very proudly claim to blow up schools, specially girls schools, being opposed to women getting education. Wonder what has Linda Gates to say about that or when she finds out that IK before the recent elections signed a paper along with other right-wing religious parties which forbade women to vote. . Mr Gates hopefully knows that PTT stands for Pakistan Tahrik e Taliban*. Quite inadvertently he is putting the life of polio eradication team in the "Wild North" in danger. His intentions can not be doubted but he has apparently been briefed by persons who did not tell whole truth. . IK is faced with a conundrum. He must choose between a pouch of money from a country which he has painted as the major cause of trouble or give a bear hug to his beautiful friends once more.
All these people cheering for Bill Gates are doing so using computers that run pirated Windows! Keep it up guys!
@Afan: "Fine. Don’t talk to the Taliban and let us have a handicap nation. " . Yeah sure, many more Malalai. Hope the poor girl can spend a normal life.
its only because they know imran khan is s good friend of talibans who are stopping polio campaigns and speaks good english. so bill gates pick imran khan. and also he still have that SHERWANI that he bought it for pm dreamliner.
@Afan: Zero tolerance for Taliban. Period
It is difficult for some in Pakistan to understand that many billionaires have given away at least one billion dollars to charity. The really great people whether Mother Teresa, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have made commitment to make the world a better place. Warren Buffet went on to donate his 99.9% wealth (richest man in the US) to global charities run by Gates Foundation. No person in the history of the world has donated this much money in his life despite having his own family. These people are trying to make the world free of many diseases including AIDS, polio, measles, Malaria, and other curable diseases. In short these are Edhi’s of the world with lot more resources and no personal desires. It is a shame that Bill Gates has to worry about the Polio endemic in Pakistan and not our leaders. It should have been the other way around. Pakistani leaders should have been contacting and thanking Gates for his help and support his program to eradicate these preventable diseases from Pakistan and world. On the contrary we are trying to portray Gate’s gesture as the greatness of Khan that he is being approached! While we are establishing madarsas and killing the vaccine workers some of the best hospitals in the world have been established and run by global charities. It is not surprising that some of the best hospitals even in Pakistan are established by the followers of messiah. Open your hearts and minds and save Pakistani children or at least do not oppose that gesture. Instead of being proud we should be ashamed of the fact that for vaccinating our children for free Gates needs permission!
Shameful to see some taking pride and say that IK is trusted around the world when the country's is put to great embarrassment.
@Aysha
Fine. Don't talk to the Taliban and let us have a handicap nation.
@Eeman: I think Bill Gates is approaching Imran Khan with the assumption that he is the best friend of Taliban and so he would be able to do something in this regard.
@rainy rain ...dont limit KHAN and PTI to KPK only... its the 2nd largest party of the country...
Soon Bill Gates will face biggest disappointment of his life. He thinks that an Oxford graduate who plays English sport is a bright, modern and progressive person.
The reason IK was contacted was 1. He is a closet taliban and was supported by Taliban during the elections. 2. He can speak English better than the political leaders esp the religious mullahs
You guys are so naive about Bill Gates contact with Imran Khan. It's not about talking or choosing a trustworthy person from Pakistan to eradication polio. The reason why he contacted him is that yesterday 4 new polio cases have been reported and all of them were from KP. This year out of 14 cases, most of them were reported from KP and that's why he is contacting PTI chief (ruling party of KP) to discuss the modalities and better strategy to get rid of this crippling decease from Pakistan.
This is the game of trust, not only people of Pakistan but also rest of the world trust him. An honest son of the soul.
Umm, Gates met Gilani too. Does that mean he 'trusted' Gilani as much? Spin the news. Spin the news.
Seems Bilgate is too against drone attacks and war against taliban.
for gods sake @JibbiRana this is not a US Aid but a Person who is helping many countries new born children's to get them rid of Polio virus
Hmm, why is PM Sharif being left out? He sure needs help with the dengue mosquito problem in Punjab... [scratches head]
Imran Khan will perhaps consult Taliban before taking a call from Bill Gates about polio
@JibbiRana: @shinwari: Sorry to rain on your parade, but Gates is talking to Khan because he heads PTI - currently in charge of KP - where most polio cases have surfaced.
So like us , Bill Gates too trusts I.K .....Wish them all the best
wondering y the goras love us so much !
Bill gates already promised to pay to Japan on behalf of Pakistan, a loan of 65million USD obtained by Pakistan from Japan for polio eradication. For that to happen, Pakistan was to end polio by June 2013...but it never happened :(
Bill reached out the Right person for Right job all the best IK
Super Like
Thank you Bill Gates.
Mr Gates, you are finally talking to the right person.
Nice initiative to seek help, Lets bowl out polio from KPK & May god help PTI.
Nice to hear such news. KPK government should take extraordinary measures to ensure polio vaccination in the province.
We owe to Bill Gates for his effort to eradicate Polio, I hope the KP Govt will help him (or help us rather) on this Nobel cause. No child deserve to die if there is a cure.
Awkward that others are making more efforts for our health than our own leaders. Shame!
The most trusty one KHAN... Believed all around the world... Step forward to eradicate polio and stand tall among the world..
Wow!!!