Bill Gates, head of Microsoft and Gates Foundation has telephoned army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and exchanged views on the strategy to deal with coronavirus and revival of the anti-polio campaign.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa, #COAS & @BillGates, Co-Chair of The Bill & Melinda @gatesfoundation, spoke on telephone about Pakistan’s COVID-19 response and resumption of polio campaign. Mr Gates conveyed appreciation 4 Pakistan Army for supporting (1/4)
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) August 15, 2020
Pakistan Army Spokesman (DG ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar shared the telephonic conversation between Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Bill Gates, head of Microsoft and Gates Foundation, on the social networking site Twitter.
He said that Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Bill Gates had discussed strategies to combat the Coronavirus outbreak and revival of the anti-polio campaign.
Read more: Bill Gates lauds Pakistan’s efforts in tackling COVID-19 on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria
Appreciating the key role of Pakistan Army in the National Anti-Polio Campaign, Bill Gates said that he would continue to support Pakistan in the polio campaign to improve the health of children.
The Gates Foundation is playing its part in the fight against the epidemic around the world, and despite Pakistan’s limited resources, its success against the Corona epidemic is commendable.
Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that efforts for a polio-free Pakistan are a national duty and the credit for the successful anti-polio drive goes to mobile teams, public health and law enforcement agencies.
Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the victory against the Corona epidemic was made possible by the overall national response, adding that the National Command and Operations Center played a key role in making the best use of resources.
Read more: Bill Gates called Gen Bajwa, appreciated armed forces efforts in eradicating Polio
Bill Gates on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria
Earlier, American business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates lauded Pakistan for being a COVID-19 success story, comparing it to Europe on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria.
Gates endorsed Pakistan’s COVID-19 policies and said India by contrast, doesn’t look great and compared it to South America in terms of its coronavirus growth.
PTI’s official twitter page tweeted ‘Today on CNN, @BillGates shared his views about COVID-19 response and stats of Pakistan & India. Pakistan’s numbers are coming down while India’s numbers are going up. This is the difference between PM Imran Khan (a visionary leader) & @narendramodi (politician who preaches hate)’
Read More: Bill Gates says world population should be injected with COVID-19 vaccine
On CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria, Bill Gates shared his views about COVID19 global response and infection numbers. In his discussion, Pakistan and India’s numbers and cases were also brought up. Gates said the condition in Pakistan has improved like Europe & numbers are going down. But our neighbours India are showing growth in infection like South America.
Bill Gates said it’s “mind-blowing” that the US government hasn’t improved Covid-19 testing that he described as slow and lacking fair access.
“You’re paying billions of dollars in this very inequitable way to get the most worthless test results of any country in the world,” Gates said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” on Sunday. “No other country has this testing insanity.”
“A variety of early missteps by the US and then the political atmosphere meant that we didn’t get our testing going,” he said.
Gates cited long lines at commercial labs and delays in obtaining test results, meaning that “you pay as much for the late result as the timely result.” Meanwhile, “very wealthy people have access to these quick-turnaround tests,” he said.
Bill Gates lauds Imran Khan’s efforts
Earlier in a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Bill Gates lauded Pakistan’s efforts in the fight against the Covid-19 outbreak.
PM Imran shared how Pakistan is making all-out efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic with a robust and coordinated response.
The pair also discussed the latest developments surrounding the country’s response to the pandemic.
The Prime Minister emphasised that Pakistan is facing a dual challenge of overcoming the pandemic and saving people, particularly the most vulnerable segments of the society, from hunger due to the lockdown.
Online Int’l News with additional input by GVS News Desk