Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates applauds Nigeria’s anti-polio work, but warns more needed
By APMonday, June 7, 2010
Bill Gates applauds Nigeria’s anti-polio campaign
ABUJA, Nigeria — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has applauded anti-polio efforts in Nigeria, where the West African nation has seen only three new wild polio cases this year.
Gates told reporters Monday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, that efforts needed to continue in order to stop the spread of the disease. The same time last year, Nigeria was in the grips of an epidemic as monitors reported 288 new infections of the disease in the country.
Gates said he met with President Goodluck Jonathan and state governors of Africa’s most populous nation Monday to discuss eradication efforts. The billionaire said political leaders, as well as traditional leaders in the Muslim north, had helped a skeptical public accept their children receiving the polio vaccine.
