This handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) on Feb 2, 2021, shows Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan (C back) witnessing the first Chinese-made COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine being administered to a frontline health worker in Islamabad. (PID / AFP)
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has held a telephone conversation with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discussing public health and social sector programs supported by the foundation in Pakistan, the Prime Minister's Office said.
The prime minister appreciated the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in polio eradication and improving immunization, nutrition and financial inclusion in the country, the office said in a statement Tuesday night.
The prime minister appreciated the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in polio eradication
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He also reaffirmed Pakistan's desire to strengthen further the fruitful partnership with the foundation in all the ongoing areas of cooperation, adding that the government remained committed to ending all forms of polio in the country.
In light of the recent flooding which has adversely affected the ongoing polio vaccination efforts due to large-scale displacements and destruction of healthcare infrastructure, Sharif said that the government is actively implementing the special emergency response plan and will continue to find ways to reach out to children in these challenging times.
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Gates acknowledged Pakistan's efforts to eradicate polio and reiterated his foundation's continued support to Pakistan for ensuring that no child is at risk of paralysis due to poliovirus, the statement said.