Islamabad, Pakistan (CU)_ Bill Gates, the philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, paid his official inaugural visit to Pakistan, and met with Prime Minister Imran Khan to address polio eradication in one of the last two countries in the world where the virus is still prevalent.
According to Gates’ statement, Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate the polio virus are encouraging and optimistic. He said, “This is the final, and hardest, phase of the eradication effort, but by keeping up the momentum and staying vigilant, Pakistan has an opportunity to make history by ending polio for good. Pakistan’s commitment to ending polio is inspiring.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable organization co-chaired by Gates, is an active partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which is a huge collaborative effort between governments and international organizations. Pakistan and its neighboring country Afghanistan are the two nations in the world where polio is still prevalent.
According to health and humanitarian experts, Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate the polio illness are promising but delicate. According to the Gates Foundation, although no children have been paralyzed by wild polio in Pakistan for over a year, the virus was discovered in sewage samples collected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in December.
On his first official visit to Pakistan, Gates also paid a visit to the COVID-19 National Command and Operation Center of the country, which manages the nation’s response to the pandemic. During an investiture ceremony, Pakistan President Arif Alvi presented Gates with the Hilal-e-Pakistan award, which is the second-highest civilian honor of the nation.
