Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday stressed upon the need of zero tolerance during polio campaign to eradicate this fatal disease from all parts of the country. He appreciated the provincial governments efforts in reaching the far flung areas in their respective provinces particularly in those areas, which were earlier infested by the militants.
The Prime Minister expressed these views in a meeting with Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to PM in a meeting here at the Prime Minister House. The Prime Minister said that the objective of his earlier meetings on Polio in which all the chief ministers and provincial representatives participated was to ensure political ownership to the campaign for the elimination of polio from the country.
He expressed the confidence that all the provincial governments would aggressively participate in the polio eradication campaign in the country. He said that federal government would continue to provide all out support to the provinces for elimination of polio. Shahnaz Wazir Ali briefed the Prime Minister about her recent meeting with Bill Gates, a founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Abu Dhabi. She informed that Bill Gates mentioned that eradication of polio from the world is his mission and now he is focusing on Pakistan.
She further apprised that Bill Gates also assured that he would be providing all resources to Pakistan for this purpose and in this regard he is collecting funds from various world organisations as well. The Special Assistant to PM informed the Prime Minister that recent research has shown that major diseases including polio in Pakistan is the result of poor sanitation and unhygienic conditions. She said that aggressive awareness campaign to educate each family in the country regarding the negative effects of poor sanitation is the need of hour.