ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Thursday awarded the country’s top civilian award, Hilal-e-Pakistan, to Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates in recognition of his work related to poverty alleviation and disease control in different parts of the world.
Gates arrived in Islamabad earlier today to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Alvi and other senior government functionaries.
“On a daylong visit to the capital, Islamabad, Gates was given the prestigious Hilal-e-Pakistan award by President Arif Alvi in a televised ceremony after he met with Prime Minister Imran Khan,” said the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Mr. Bill Gates on his first ever visit to Pakistan,” said Dr. Faisal Sultan, the prime minister’s advisor on public health, in a Twitter post. “Planned engagements include a review of progress on polio eradication, visits to NCOC [National Command and Operation Center] and Ehsaas program as well as meeting the President, the PM and health leadership of the provinces.”
According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Gates attended a meeting of the National Task Force for Polio Eradication in Islamabad. During the meeting, the prime minister maintained the government was fully committed and determined to eradicate polio.
During the meeting, Khan highlighted how Afghanistan was in need of “urgent international support,” adding the neighboring country was also the source of polio in the frontier regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Pakistan is providing full support for the sake of 40 million Afghan people in need of basic amenities,” he said.
Gates thanked the prime minister for extending a warm welcome to him on his first visit to Pakistan. “Mr. Gates highly appreciated the efforts of the leadership, health workers and parents for working tirelessly to ensure that polio never paralyzes a child again,” the PMO statement said.
“Mr. Gates said that despite COVID-19 restrictions, Pakistan has performed amazingly and has continued with polio vaccinations,” it added.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan also held a one-on-one meeting with the Microsoft cofounder.