Bill Gates lauds Pakistan's efforts against Covid-19 outbreak

PM Imran, American business magnate discuss global pandemic in telephonic conversation

Bill Gates, American business magnate and philanthropist, on Wednesday lauded Pakistan's efforts in the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak in a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

PM Imran shared how Pakistan is making all-out efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic with a robust and coordinated response.

The pair also discussed the latest developments surrounding the country’s response to the pandemic.

The prime minister emphasised that Pakistan is facing a dual challenge of overcoming the pandemic and saving people, particularly the most vulnerable segments of the society, from hunger due to the lockdown.



He noted that his government had put together $8 billion package to support the affected people and businesses.

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PM Imran appreciated the support provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other international partners during this unprecedented crisis and emphasised continued urgency of the situation.

1) Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI spoke to @BillGates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on 28 April 2020, to discuss the latest developments surrounding the COVID-19 response.
#PMImranKhan #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/sgG6ZS396Y

— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) April 29, 2020

Gates commended Pakistan’s efforts in protecting the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable people.

“It's very hard to compress these timeframes and, you know, if everything went perfectly, we'd be in scale manufacturing within a year. We may not achieve that. It could be as long as two years,” Bill Gates says about a potential coronavirus vaccine. pic.twitter.com/vzRZF2XgWs

— CNN (@CNN) April 26, 2020

The two figures also discussed their shared priority of polio eradication and it was noticed that anti-polio teams are supporting the training of frontline health workers on Covid-19, using contact tracing, testing and communication methods.

They agreed that routine immunisation programs for children, especially anti-polio vaccination, could not be ignored.