Pakistani PM, Bill Gates discuss public health, increase of polio cases in Pakistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has held a telephone conversation with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discussing public health issues, especially the increase of poliovirus cases in Pakistan, the Prime Minister's Office said.

Sharif expressed concern about the increase in the number of confirmed poliovirus cases this year in his country and stressed that the government remained committed to eradicating polio cases, the office said in a statement on Friday night.

The prime minister noted that all cases of poliovirus confirmed so far this year involved the southern part of the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

The government has been actively implementing the special emergency response plan for southern KP to scale up and improve the quality of the polio eradication program, he added.

The prime minister also said that providing safety and security to all members of the program, especially the frontline workers, has been the government's high priority.

Gates shared the concern and reiterated the foundation's continued support for Pakistan to ensure that no child is at risk of paralysis due to poliovirus, said the statement.