Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday honoured Bill Gates’ with second highest civilian award Hilal-e-Pakistan in recognition of his support to alleviate poverty and eliminate diseases such as polio and tuberculosis.
At a ceremony held at the President House, President Arif Alvi presented the award to Bill Gates.
Later in a statement released by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates acknowledged Pakistan’s commitment to ending polio and called it quite inspiring. Microsoft co-founder and co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates on Thursday visited Pakistan and held meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country’s health officials, workers and acknowledged the country’s efforts aimed at eradication of polio virus.
The statement also quoted PM Khan as thanking Gates and saying that polio eradication is a “top priority’” for the government, which is working “at all levels to ensure that every child is protected with the polio vaccine.”
Last year, the country reported only a single case of polio, in its remote southwestern Balochistan province.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic. The disease can cause partial paralysis in children.
‘Final and hardest phase’
“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,” Gates said in the statement.
“Government leaders, health workers, and parents are working tirelessly to ensure this disease never paralyses a child again,” Gates said in his statement.
The first ever one-day visit by tech billionaire largely focused on health-related issues particularly polio and coronavirus.
The visit of the philanthropist billionaire was kept secret till the last hour, and according to an official of the PM House even senior ministers were not aware of the high profile visit due to security reasons.
In his one-day busy schedule, Gates also visited the National Command Operations Centre (NCOC), the central body overseeing Pakistan’s coronavirus response where he was given a detailed briefing about Pakistan’s vaccination drive.
According to the NCOC statement, Gates recognised Pakistan’s success against COVID-19 despite the country’s limited resources, as the number of cases continue to decline in the country despite the fact the country is in grip of 5th wave of coronavirus.
Chairman of the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) Federal Minister Asad Umar also held meeting with Bill Gates and briefed him about “the work has been done so far.”
Later in a tweet, Asad said: “Hosted BillGates at the NCOC this morning. Shared with him the work which has been done for COVID response in Pakistan and the role played by the NCOC.”
He also thanked the visiting dignitary for the support provided by his foundation
Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health (SAPM) Dr Faisal Sultan took to twitter immediately after the arrival of Bill Gates and his team and revealed that Bill Gates would visit the country’s nerve centre monitoring COVID-19, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and would be briefed about Pakistan’s achievements as well as challenges in tackling the deadly virus.
He would also visit Ehsaas Centre to witbess operations of the country’s
biggest cash assistance programme for the poor.
Above all, Bill Gates would also hold a meeting to review the anti-polio drive across the country, which his foundation has been supporting for last many years.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Mr Bill Gates on his first ever visit to Pakistan. Planned engagements include review of progress on polio eradication; visits to NCOC and Ehsaas program as well as meeting the President, the PM and health leadership of the provinces,” said Dr Faisal Sultan in his tweet.
