Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reiterates support to Pakistan to end polio

• Bill Gates calls for addressing challenges during anti-polio drive.
• Pakistan can become polio-free by end of 2024: US philanthropist.
• BMGF supports Pakistan’s BISP, RAAST, Nashonuma programmes.

In a congratulatory letter to new government and newly elected prime minister, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Bill Gates felicitated Premier Shehbaz Sharif on the 2024 election victory and wished for success in new rulers’ work to foster growth and prosperity of Pakistan.

“I want to reiterate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s commitment to the Government of Pakistan and its people,” the philanthropist stated in his letter. “As you know, our foundation has long supported Pakistan’s goal to eradicate polio, and I am grateful for your leadership on this issue.”

He added: “We’ve lost important ground in the past few months, and it will take a renewed push to address significant challenges, especially the security issues that prevent all children from being vaccinated.”

Pledging continued backing of his organisation to Islamabad, he said, “With your focused support, I believe Pakistan can become polio-free by the end of 2024, I would be extremely grateful if we could speak on the phone about this, at your earliest convenience.”

Besides polio eradication programme, the co-founder of software giant Microsoft said that his “foundation supports government priorities in primary health care, nutrition, and financial access. This includes our collaboration with the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), RAAST instant payments system, and the Nashonuma health and nutrition program, impacting families in 157 districts.

“Through Nashonuma, we’re helping to support 770,000 women and babies to prevent malnutrition and stunting and hope to work with your government to expand its reach to 1.5 million people. Our work in support of RAAST has also seen a great success, with more than 30 million users signing up since 2021.”

“These are impressive strides forward. I hope we’ll continue to build on our collaboration to have greater impact across Pakistan. Your leadership will be essential to ensure that our partnership grows in the years ahead. I look forward to continuing our work together to drive progress toward our shared hopes for Pakistan,” the American billionaire concluded.