ISLAMABAD, Jul 30 (NNN-APP) – Pakistani Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, held a telephone conversation with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discussing public health issues, especially the increase of polio cases in Pakistan, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Sharif expressed concern about the increase in the number of confirmed poliovirus cases this year, in Pakistan and stressed that, the government remained committed to eradicating polio cases, the office said in a statement, last night.
The prime minister noted that, all cases of poliovirus confirmed so far this year, involved the southern part of the country’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
The government has been actively implementing the special emergency response plan for southern KP, to scale up and improve the quality of the polio eradication programme, he added.
The prime minister also said that, providing safety and security to all members of the programme, especially the frontline workers, has been the government’s high priority.
Gates shared the concern and reiterated the foundation’s continued support for Pakistan, to ensure that no child is at risk of paralysis, due to poliovirus, said the statement.
