In a letter, Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), wished success to the new administration and prime minister Shehbaz Sharif in their efforts to promote Pakistan’s development and prosperity.
“I would like to restate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s dedication to the people and government of Pakistan,” the philanthropist wrote in his letter. “As you know, I am appreciative of your leadership on this issue, and our foundation has long supported Pakistan’s aim to eradicate polio.”
He continued: “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.”
Assuring Islamabad of his organization’s ongoing assistance, he added, “I would be very grateful if we could speak on the phone about this, at your earliest convenience. With your focused support, I believe Pakistan can become polio-free by the end of 2024.”
Aside from the polio eradication initiative, the co-founder of software giant Microsoft stated that his “foundation supports government priorities in primary health care, nutrition, and financial access.” This includes our work with the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the RAAST fast payment system, and the Nashonuma health and nutrition programme, which affects households in 157 districts.
“Through Nashonuma, we are assisting 770,000 women and newborns to prevent malnutrition and stunting, and we wish to collaborate with your administration to increase its reach to 1.5 million people. Our work in support of RAAST has also been quite successful, with over 30 million users signing up since 2021.
“These are impressive steps forward. I hope we can continue to strengthen our relationship to have a wider impact across Pakistan. Your leadership will be critical in ensuring that our cooperation grows in the years ahead. I look forward to continuing our collaboration to advance our common goals for Pakistan,” the American millionaire said.
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