Pakistan President Arif Alvi conferred the award of Hilal-e-Pakistan, the country’s second-highest civilian award, to Bill Gates for his efforts to help eradicate polio.
- Pakistan, along with neighbouring Afghanistan, is one of two countries in the world where polio continues to circulate.
- Bill Gates was honoured with the award during a special investiture ceremony held in Islamabad on February 17.
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is playing a critical role in the elimination of polio in Pakistan as well as supporting the financial system through various interventions.
Polio in Pakistan
- Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999 and no case of wild poliovirus type 3 has been found since the last reported case in Nigeria in November 2012.
- Both strains have officially been certified as globally eradicated. As at 2020, wild poliovirus type 1 affects two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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