DAVOS: Entrepreneur and head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, appreciated Pakistan’s success in eradicating the poliovirus from the country over the last three years.

Bill Gates called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday at the Congress Centre for the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, according to a statement issued by the PM’s media cell.

While commending the leadership role of the prime minister, Mr Gates said the year 2017 would be a year of polio eradication from Pakistan.

The prime minister briefed Mr Gates on the measures taken by his government in the national fight against the crippling virus.

Prime Minister Sharif said the federal government along with all provincial governments, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, were collectively involved in efforts made for polio eradication.

He said all resources at the federal and provincial levels were being fully utilised for a polio-free Pakistan and ensuring healthy future generations.

Mr Gates said that he was looking forward to his visit to Pakistan in the coming months.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017