Bill Gates, the co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, says Nigeria is one of the most difficult places to
wipe out polio in the world.
Speaking at the joint forum of the Commonwealth Head of
Government Meeting in Westminster on Tuesday, Gates said India,
Nigeria and Pakistan have proven to be the most difficult places to
wipe out the disease, adding that it was difficult but
achievable.
Gates, who is the second richest man in the world, said the
Commonwealth has to learn from itself in solving its own problems,
stating examples of what Nigeria learnt from India in the
eradication of the dangerous disease.
“If you want to do something better, find out who is already
doing better than anyone else in the world, and adopt what they are
doing, to your own challenges. The Commonwealth is ideal for this
and you have positive outliers in almost every area of expertise,
and you meet regularly to learn from one another.
“Polio eradication is a great example of this. For different
reasons, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, are three of the places it has
been most difficult to wipe out this disease. But India was
declared Polio-free in 2014.
“The lessons learnt from there have helped Nigeria get to zero
cases in 2017. And now Pakistan, which still has few cases, very
few, is taking those experiences, particularly at the challenges of
dealing with insecurity, and they have their cases down to the
lowest areas ever.
“So, this success really goes back to the substantial
commitments made in part at the Commonwealth meetings.
Collectively, Commonwealth nations are experts in far more than
just polio eradication.
“Nobody else is better in the world at education than Singapore.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have built very high quality primary
healthcare systems, staffed primarily by women healthcare
workers.”
Gates was in Nigeria in March to discuss the need to invest more
in health and education for the future of Nigeria.
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, says Nigeria is one of the most difficult places to
wipe out polio in the world.
Speaking at the joint forum of the Commonwealth Head of
Government Meeting in Westminster on Tuesday, Gates said India,
Nigeria and Pakistan have proven to be the most difficult places to
wipe out the disease, adding that it was difficult but
achievable.
Gates, who is the second richest man in the world, said the
Commonwealth has to learn from itself in solving its own problems,
stating examples of what Nigeria learnt from India in the
eradication of the dangerous disease.
“If you want to do something better, find out who is already
doing better than anyone else in the world, and adopt what they are
doing, to your own challenges. The Commonwealth is ideal for this
and you have positive outliers in almost every area of expertise,
and you meet regularly to learn from one another.
“Polio eradication is a great example of this. For different
reasons, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, are three of the places it has
been most difficult to wipe out this disease. But India was
declared Polio-free in 2014.
“The lessons learnt from there have helped Nigeria get to zero
cases in 2017. And now Pakistan, which still has few cases, very
few, is taking those experiences, particularly at the challenges of
dealing with insecurity, and they have their cases down to the
lowest areas ever.
“So, this success really goes back to the substantial
commitments made in part at the Commonwealth meetings.
Collectively, Commonwealth nations are experts in far more than
just polio eradication.
“Nobody else is better in the world at education than Singapore.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have built very high quality primary
healthcare systems, staffed primarily by women healthcare
workers.”
Gates was in Nigeria in March to discuss the need to invest more
in health and education for the future of Nigeria.