Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visit the country this week to meet policy-makers, non-government partners, business and community leaders, and public-health figures to explore ways to build on achievements in health and development and tackle the still prevalent and significant burden of disease.
The challenges and achievements to be highlighted by them will include the eradication of polio, the development and delivery of life-saving vaccines, improved health outcomes for mothers, children and newborns, and innovative approaches to counter the scourge of tuberculosis through public-private partnerships.
India’s success with polio, with a 95-per-cent reduction from 741 in 2009 to 42 last year, is just one example of its commitment to improve the lives of the poorest. “I believe there is an excellent chance India will be polio-free very soon,†said Mr. Gates.
India’s efforts to halt polio transmission among high-risk migrant populations such as brick-kiln workers are critical to achieving this goal. Concerns still remain in West Bengal, where an outbreak has persisted for over 12 months. “If there is polio anywhere, we are at risk of polio everywhere,†Mr. Gates said. “We encourage India to continue fully funding its own polio program to stop transmission once and for all.â€
Another priority would be to urge the Indian government to intensify its progress on vaccination of children. Last year, the couple had called on the global community to help make this the Decade of Vaccines.
It is estimated that pneumonia accounts for 20 per cent of the 1.83 million child deaths in the country each year. Scaling up routine immunisation and access to newer vaccines, such as for measles and certain types of diarrhoea and pneumonia, could prevent hundreds of thousands of childhood deaths in India. A wider introduction of the pentavalent vaccine into routine childhood immunisation efforts would ensure protection against some of the deadliest diseases that children under five are at risk from.
The couple will go to Bihar and visit community health workers and State officials to view, first-hand, the launch of a five-year grant of $80 million made in partnership with the State government and leading Indian and international NGOs. They will see the challenges of maternal and child malnutrition, the benefits of working with private-sector health providers, and the need to develop and deliver new technologies to solve old problems. Bihar’s maternal mortality rate and other related indicators are among the highest in India.
During their trip to Bihar, the couple will also visit The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), which aims to help millions of Indian farmers substantially boost crop yields and incomes within ten years.