Pakistan committed to eradicate polio, PM Shehbaz tells Bill Gates

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday spoke on the telephone with Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Bill Gates and reiterated his government’s commitment to eradicate polio from the country.

The telephonic interaction took place days after after Pakistan reported a polio case in a child in North Waziristan after a hiatus of 15 months.

While noting that only one case of polio was recorded in 2021, the prime minister stressed that his government remained committed to eradicating all forms of polio from the country.

Expressing grave concern on the emergence of first case of poliovirus this year, he noted that a special emergency response plan for southern areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province was already under implementation to scale up and improve the quality of the polio eradication programme and increase security of frontline health workers.

Read more: Pakistan reports first polio case in 15 months

During the telephonic conversation, the ongoing public health and social sector programmes supported by BMGF in Pakistan were discussed, including polio eradication and the foundation’s support towards improving immunisation, nutrition and financial inclusion services in Pakistan.

The prime minister underscored that Pakistan deeply valued its cooperation with BMGF. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to further solidifying its fruitful partnership with the foundation in all prevailing areas of work.

Pakistan has maintained progress towards polio eradication and appreciated the invaluable assistance provided by BMGF in that regard, he added.

Bill Gates acknowledged the positive progress and reiterated the foundation’s continued support to Pakistan for ensuring that no child was at risk of paralysis due to poliovirus.

Also read: Anti-polio drive starts in May

Recalling the polio-related challenges faced by Afghanistan, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the resumption of polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan.

He underlined the need for adequate international support to Afghanistan in that regard.

The prime minister and Bill Gates also exchanged views on Pakistan’s Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Moreover, they discussed BMGF’s support for various other government-led programmes aimed at addressing malnutrition and stunting, essential immunisation services, operationalisation of micropayment gateways financial inclusion, and digitisation of the National Savings Programme.