Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday during his first-ever visit to Pakistan.
Sharing pictures of the meeting on Twitter, Senator Faisal Javed Khan said Gates “greatly appreciated steps [regarding polio eradication] in Pakistan, the NCOC’s (National Command and Operation Centre) performance related to coronavirus and initiatives such as Ehsaas programme”.
Earlier in the day, Gates also met Planning and Development Minister and NCOC head Asad Umar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.
In a statement, the NCOC said the philanthropist also attended the forum’s morning session. During his visit, Gates was informed about the NCOC’s role and methodology, its achievements since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the coronavirus situation in Pakistan as well as the non-pharmaceutical interventions by the forum to control the spread of the disease.
Gates and his delegation were also told about genome sequencing and coronavirus variants detected in Pakistan, the statement added. “Gates took keen interest on various initiatives by NCOC, particularly smart lockdown and micro-smart lockdown strategy enforcement measures and Pakistan’s vaccine administration regime which enabled NCOC to formulate and implement a comprehensive Covid response.”
During his visit to the NCOC, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation chairman also shared his views on the pandemic, especially the vaccination drive.
“Gates appreciated Pakistan’s success against Covid-19 despite resource constraints and introducing excellent initiatives and measures for public health safety,” according to the statement. For his part, Planning Minister Umar credited “a true national response, executed through an effective communication campaign mechanism of the NCOC” for the success in dealing with the coronavirus.
He also thanked Gates for his foundation’s support to Pakistan during Covid-19.
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