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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called Pakistan’s partnership with the Gates Foundation vital for polio eradication which he described as a “high priority” in the face of 27 cases reported this year, his office said on Thursday.

The remarks came during a meeting between Sharif and Gates Foundation Chairman Bill Gates on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The highest number of polio cases confirmed this year in Pakistan so far includes 18 from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province followed by seven from southern Sindh and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.

“The premier appreciated the valuable support extended by the Gates Foundation to Pakistan for polio eradication efforts, improving immunization and nutrition as well as financial inclusion in the country,” the PM Office said in a statement.

“The prime minister stressed that polio eradication remained a high priority for the Government and partnership with the Gates Foundation would remain vital to achieve this objective.”

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine for every child under five during each campaign, alongside timely completion of all routine immunizations.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic.

Pakistan recorded 74 cases in 2024, a sharp rise from six in 2023 and just one in 2021.

Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate poliovirus have mostly been hampered by parental refusals, widespread misinformation and repeated attacks on anti-polio workers by militant groups.

In remote and volatile areas, vaccination teams often operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have also been targeted in attacks.

The government has already said around 400,000 door-to-door workers will be deployed in the next nationwide polio vaccination drive from Oct. 13-19 to inoculate 45.4 million children.

LAHORE: The government of Punjab on Thursday pledged to build climate-resilient infrastructure and improve early warning systems as the World Bank offered support for post-flood recovery efforts in Pakistan’s most populous province, ravaged by some of the worst monsoon flooding in recent history.

Heavy monsoon rains and floods have killed at least 1,006 people and injured more than 1,000 nationwide since June 26, when this year’s monsoon season began. 

Punjab, the country’s agricultural heartland, has borne the brunt since late August, with over 300 people killed, 4,700 villages submerged, 4.7 million people affected and 1.5 million acres of crops damaged after rivers swelled from torrential downpours and India released water from its dams. Authorities say they have launched the province’s largest-ever search and rescue operation, moving 2.6 million people and 2.1 million animals to safety.

The floods have disrupted the pace of development projects in the province, but a survey is already under way to assess the damage, Punjab’s senior provincial minister Maryam Aurangzeb said after meeting World Bank Country Director Bolorma A. Amgaabazar in Lahore on Thursday. 

 “We will build infrastructure that is resilient to floods and capable of withstanding climate disasters,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement. “A modern early warning system will be implemented.”

Aurangzeb said the provincial government had mounted an unprecedented disaster response. 

“The largest rescue and relief operation in history was carried out,” she said. “Millions of people and their livestock were moved to safe locations.”

She added that the current administration was the first in Punjab to undertake “record work” on environmental improvement, including eliminating toxic emissions, shifting brick kilns to zigzag technology and taking steps to tackle smog.

According to the statement, World Bank’s Amgaabazar expressed satisfaction over progress on development projects in the province and commended the monitoring system established by the chief minister.

“Social protection programs in Punjab are proving to be effective,” she said. “With the completion of these projects, the Punjab government will also succeed in achieving its development goals.”

Thirteen projects are currently underway in Punjab with World Bank collaboration, while four new projects are under consideration.