Imran Khan asks Bill Gates to set up incubation lab in Pakistan
Prime Minister Imran Khan presently said that he asked Bill Gates if he could set up a Microsoft incubation lab in Pakistan. Imran Khan spoke with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and both exchanged views on the ongoing polio eradication campaign in Pakistan also on Pakistan’s response to the public health challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. PM stated that he spoke with Bill Gates and thanked him for the assist his foundation provided for polio eradication in the country. This time last year we had 56 reported cases – this year so far only one case, he said, adding that Pakistan will eradicate polio completely in the coming years. PM Imran Khan appreciated the work of BMGF for the socio-economic uplift of the most disadvantaged people around the globe, particularly for promoting universal access to health services and combating of infectious diseases. He expressed gratitude, in particular, for the BMGF’s partnership with Pakistan to rid the country of polio. PM reaffirmed that polio eradication remained a main national priority for the government and earnest attempts were continuing to further intensify the anti-polio campaign across the country, despite the problems imposed through the Covid-19 crisis, in order to achieve a polio-free Pakistan.
Recalling that a special polio eradication campaign launched in Pakistan earlier this month (7-11 June 2021), during which vaccine drops were administered to over 33 million children under 5-year of age, PM Imran Khan expressed his satisfaction over the substantive progress in cutting the transmission of the poliovirus in Pakistan. He hoped that polio will be eradicated soon with the support of all the partners. Bill Gates expressed his appreciation for the prime minister’s leadership for this national cause. Gates added that while progress is encouraging, keeping up pressure will be the key to ending transmission for good. PM also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to overcome the third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan. While alluding to Pakistan’s potential in the Information Technology (IT) sector and government’s business-friendly IT policy, PM encouraged Microsoft to further expand its footprints in the country. Thursday’s telephone call follows the high-level GPEI (Global Polio Eradication Initiative) Polio Oversight Board (POB) delegation visit to Pakistan in early June, when PM Imran Khan met with POB leadership and had convened the National Task Force on Polio Eradication. The new GPEI Polio Eradication Strategy was launched on 10 June 2021, in a global (virtual) event featuring high-level participation from Pakistan.
Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) Programme
The Government of Pakistan officials identified that almost 38 million children were vaccinated during March, 2021 by the National Immunization Day (NID) campaign across the country. Pakistan is one of only 2 remaining countries in the world with ongoing wild poliovirus transmission, along with Afghanistan. The number of polio cases fell from 306 in 2014 to 54 in 2015, 20 in 2016, 8 in 2017 and 12 in 2018. However, in 2019, the programme witnessed a significant spread of the virus and reported 147 polio cases in Pakistan. In 2020, 84 cases have been reported (Punjab 14, Sindh 22, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 22 and Balochistan 26). The government is fully committed for polio eradication efforts to ensure that Pakistan achieves polio-free status.
| Province Wise Polio Cases (Nos.) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provinces/Region | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Punjab | 1 | 0 | 12 | 14 | 0 |
| Sindh | 2 | 1 | 30 | 22 | 0 |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 1 | 8 | 93 | 22 | 0 |
| Balochistan | 3 | 3 | 12 | 26 | 1 |
| Gilgit-Baltistan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Azad Jammu & Kashmir | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ICT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 12 | 147 | 84 | 1 |
| Source: End Polio Pakistan | |||||