Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said Pakistan was committed to eradicate Polio by the end of 2012 and would use all resources to rid the country of the crippling disease. He was talking to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft, Bill Gates, who contributes about one billion dollars annually to the eradication of Polio globally, and has made it a top priority of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gates, who has been regularly in touch with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, had stressed the need to expand the reach of the Polio Eradication Programme in Pakistan. Gates, whose Foundation has spent more than $85 million for the Polio eradication programme in Pakistan, was keen to hear the views of Prime Minister and the ways his government was surmounting the difficulties in this effort and to reach out to the remote areas of the country.
Gilani said he was personally supervising the Polio eradication efforts and had also asked the provinces to double their efforts towards making Pakistan a Polio-free country. The prime minister said he had spelt it out that all measures be taken to eradicate the crippling disease from the country by end of 2012, under the National Emergency Plan for Polio Eradication.
The prime minister also appreciated Bill Gates for his efforts to provide medical treatment to Arfa Karim Randhawa, the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world. He said Pakistan has named IT educational institutions after her and invited Bill Gates to visit Pakistan and help set up high quality education houses for the youth.
The prime minister recalled his joint press interaction on the issue along with prime ministers of Britain, Canada, Australia and the President of Nigeria at the Commonwealth Summit in Perth, and said Pakistan was among the few countries, still confronting the deadly disease.
Gilani said he informed the world leaders that Pakistan was taking all measures and employing innovative strategies to stop the spread of Polio virus. The world leaders have pledged $122 million in new funds towards a Polio-free world. He said surveillance officers have been appointed in high-risk areas to strengthen the implementation process, and a Polio Monitoring Cell has also been set up in his Secretariat, which was providing regular updates to him.
Pakistan is among the four countries where Polio is still a deadly disease. The other countries include: India, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh briefing reporters after the meeting said the prime minister appreciated the Gates Foundation for its very active role in Pakistan and the efforts focussed to help rid the country of the disease. He said Bill Gates expressed resolve to continue with his support to Pakistan for eradication of Polio from the country. He too appreciated the efforts made by Pakistan in this regard. He said the issue of potential collaboration in the fields of health sciences and agriculture productivity also came under discussion.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.