Bill Gates Visits Pakistan to Discuss Polio Eradication Efforts

Bill Gates pictured here sitting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Gates’s first ever visit to Pakistan. Photo: Press Information Department via AP / Uncredited/Press Information Department.

Last week, the Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who is renowned for his philanthropic work, visited Pakistan for the first time and met with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The two engaged in a discussion regarding Pakistan’s fight against Polio and the efforts being made to eradicate the virus from the country. 

Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world where polio is still prevalent. The South Asian nation has long been receiving aid from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (which is part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative)  that works in conjunction with international organizations and governments to eradicate polio. 

The poliovirus, commonly referred to as simply “polio,” is a viral disease that can cause paralysis, limb deformities, and even death. While the rest of the world has successfully eliminated polio, it remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan has recently implemented government initiatives and public health campaigns which have steadily decreased the number of polio cases in the country at a rate of about 70-75%. 

There are many misconceptions and superstitions regarding the polio vaccine that are spread by misinformed religious doctrines from militant parties like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have prevented the eradication of polio in these countries. This misinformation works in conjunction with inadequate healthcare and lack of education, especially in the more rural parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Although Prime Minister Imran Khan and Bill Gates have previously engaged in conversations surrounding public health issues and their potential solutions via social media or telephone, the two have never met in-person. 

Khan had recently reached out to Gates last year, urging him to provide humanitarian assistance to the poverty-stricken citizens of Afghanistan who are in urgent need of financial aid due to the on-going conflicts in the war-torn nation. Khan also communicated to Gates the urgency of working together to tackle the on-going polio crisis in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and further, he praised the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for their continued philanthropic efforts. 

“Apart from his many achievements, he is admired globally for his philanthropy. On behalf of our nation, I thank him for his immense contribution towards polio eradication and poverty alleviation initiatives," tweeted the Prime Minister, after his meeting with Gates at the special luncheon hosted in Gates’s honor.

During his visit, Gates attended a meeting at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), where he discussed various public health concerns including the Coronavirus pandemic and the vaccine drive, new variants, smart lockdown, and other measures implemented to control the spread of Covid-19 in Pakistan.

Bill Gates seated with public health officials of Pakistan at a forum on Thursday at the National Command and Operation Centre in Islamabad. Photo: NCOC

“Government leaders, health workers, and parents are working tirelessly to ensure this disease never paralyzes a child again. 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, impressed with Pakistan’s progress in the fight against polio and the country’s overall advancement in matters of public health care. 

For his generous contributions to alleviating poverty and preventable diseases in Pakistan, Gates was awarded the second highest civilian honor of Pakistan, known as “Hilal-i-Pakistan” by President Dr Arif Alvi during a ceremony held in his honor in Islamabad. Federal ministers, diplomats, and government officials from all over the country attended the ceremony.