Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday while sharing his concerns over rise in polio cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the government was implementing a special emergency plan to improve anti-polio response.
On his Twitter handle, the prime minister referred to his Friday’s telephonic conversation with Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in which they discussed the ongoing public health including polio eradication and social sector programs supported by BMGF in Pakistan.
The prime minister said that he was grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its valuable support in the public health & social sector programmes. “The increase in number of confirmed polio cases in KP is deeply concerning. We are implementing a special emergency plan to
improve our anti-polio response,” he posted a tweet.
During yesterday’s contact, according to PM Office Media Wing press release, the prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to further strengthen the fruitful partnership with the Foundation in all the ongoing areas of cooperation.
He conveyed to Gates that his government was also focused on
strengthening operations at all levels of the programme and empowering
districts to make decisions based on the specific needs of their areas.
The prime minister also mentioned that providing safety and security to
all members of the polio program, especially the frontline workers,
would be his government’s high priority.
Bill Gates shared the concern and reiterated the Foundation’s continued
support to Pakistan for ensuring that no child was at risk of paralysis
due to poliovirus.
