Bill Gates Praised Imran Khan on Successful ANti-Polio Campaign
World Billionaire and Owner of Microsoft Bill Gates Congratulates Imran Khan on conducting a successful Anti-Polio Campaign in KPK Province.
In a letter sent to Imran Khan, Bill Gates commended the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman on his commitment to the eradication of the polio virus in Pakistan. The co-founder of Microsoft also expressed an interest in introducing mapping technology to the country in order to help combat polio.
Gates emphasised the importance of framing the issue of polio as a humanitarian rather than a political one, and was pleased by the display of unity from the army and different levels of government on the ‘Sehat Ka Ittehad’ campaign.
In his letter, Gates said, “It is encouraging to see the Army, federal, and provincial governments working together under your banner ‘United for Health’. This initiative is key to interrupting transmission, and it highlights how polio is truly a humanitarian priority above political and partisan differences.”
He recognised the use of mapping technology may be controversial ─ “I know there are sensitivities around this type of technology” ─ but also pointed out that it had helped nearly eradicate the virus in Nigeria.
Gates also mentioned that talks with the Chief Secretary and Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) regarding the injectable polio vaccination (IPV) campaign could help revitalise campaign efforts and may serve to revive the practice of monthly and quarterly review meetings.
Copy of Bill Gates' letter to @ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/Trynf9lazR
— PTI (@PTIofficial) March 25, 2015
This is not Gates’ first conversation with Khan ─ the former had telephoned the PTI leader in March and appreciated his efforts in trying to eliminate polio virus from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Gates congratulated Imran on conducting a successful anti-polio campaign, ‘Sehat Ka Ittehad’, in the province. He also expressed grief and sorrow over the killing of 131 students during a Taliban attack on school in Peshawar.
The philanthropist assured his support to the KP government in carrying out further efforts to eliminate the crippling virus from the province.
