Microsoft founder Bill Gates on November 17 expressed willingness to work with the Uttar Pradesh government on issues such as tackling tuberculosis, child malnutrition, maternal health, sewage treatment and soil-mapping techniques. He was also apprised of efforts taken by the State to tackle Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and other vector-borne diseases.
A delegation led by Mr. Gates, who is also the founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath in Lucknow on November 17.
He expressed his willingness to work in U.P. by supporting the State government in soil-mapping through latest techniques, increase level of awareness among farmers to use better seeds.
“We are already working with the Union government and would love to work with U.P. too,” Mr. Gates was quoted saying by the U.P. communication department.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.
Mr. Gates would also work on the issue of “strengthening Anganwadi centres to tackle issue of child malnutrition and fortify their diets through existing government programmes”. The Gates Foundation is also working on a better drug to treat tuberculosis faster and in a more effective manner. “Research is on and we hope to come up with this new drug in some years,” Mr. Gates said.
Mr. Gates also stressed on the need to promote usage of birth spacing tools to help improve maternal and neonatal health in the State. “Gates foundation has a long expertise in sewage treatment solutions and we have been working on various projects in other states, we would also like to work on this issue in U.P. to treat municipal waste and help clean rivers,” he said.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates meets U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on November 17, 2017.
Mr. Adityanath informed Mr. Gates about the latest efforts taken by the State to tackle Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and other vector-borne diseases.”Eliminating the menace of JE/AES one of the top priorities of the U.P. government, Gorakhpur’s BRD medical college has been on the forefront of this mission,” Mr. Adityanath said.
The U.P. government recently organised a “successful vaccination programme” to counter vector-borne diseases in the State in which over 92 lakh children were vaccinated, he added.