PM reaffirms commitment to solidifying partnership with BMGF

Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has underscored that Pakistan deeply values its cooperation with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is committed to further solidifying its fruitful partnership with the Foundation in all the ongoing areas of work.

He was talking with the Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates on the telephone on Tuesday.

During the conversation, both the leaders discussed the ongoing public health and social sector programmes supported by BMGF in Pakistan, including polio eradication and the Foundation's support for improving immunization, nutrition and financial inclusion services in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan has maintained progress towards polio eradication and appreciates the invaluable assistance provided by BMGF in that regard.

Shehbaz Sharif stressed that his government remained committed to eradicating all forms of polio from the country. He expressed grave concern on the first case of poliovirus in 2022, after 15 months, which was recently confirmed in a child in North Waziristan.

He said a special emergency response plan for South Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province is already under implementation to scale up and improve the quality of the polio eradication programme. 

On the occasion, Bill Gates acknowledged the positive progress and reiterated the Foundation's continued support to Pakistan for ensuring that no child is at risk of paralysis due to poliovirus.

Both the leaders also exchanged views on Pakistan's COVID-19 vaccination drive and 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 digitization of the National Savings Programme.