Lucknow, Dec 7 (Representative) Co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates on Wednesday paid a courtesy call on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his official residence. The Chief Minister greeted Melinda Gates and her colleagues. In a meeting, Melinda discussed enhancing technical cooperation in the fields of health, nutrition and agriculture with the state government. She said that the work done by UP in recent years for Covid management and control of disease like encephalitis is exemplary. “Amidst the challenges of Covid, the way the state leadership tackled the issue of dense population and various social challenges is highly commendable. The world should learn from the way vaccination was carried out in UP despite having such a large and dense population,” she said. Melinda said that the efforts of the state government in the areas of health security, financial inclusion, nutrition, education and women empowerment are inspiring and UP is a model not only for India, but for the whole world. Discussing the Foundation’s deep ties with UP, she said, “We have been working here for a long time in the field of health and social security. It is a matter of happiness that we are able to provide facilities to the weakest and last person of the society.
We intend to further improve our relations with UP in the coming times.” She also appreciated the effective implementation of the digital banking system in UP and said that there are immense possibilities of development in UP. “The work done for the betterment of infrastructure in the past few years is unprecedented. The development of UP is wonderful and its direction is right,” she said. Melinda also congratulated women’s self-help groups for the success of the nutrition mission in UP and also praised the efforts being made to increase the income of farmers by promoting the formation of FPOs in the largest agricultural state of the country. The CM said that it was a matter of pride for all that in the Amrit Kaal of India’s independence, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been given the chairmanship of G-20, a group of big nations of the world, from December 2022 to December 2023. “This period will prove to be important for the happiness, prosperity and security of the whole world,” he said. He said that he has closely seen the works of the BMGF, which has made a commendable contribution in the field of health and nutrition. “UP received logistics and technical support from the Foundation amidst the challenges of Covid. We are grateful to the Foundation for this gesture,” he said. Yogi said that UP has achieved satisfactory success in the field of health and nutrition in recent years.
“About 95 per cent of the deaths of innocent children caused by a disease like encephalitis have been controlled. Besides, the Foundation has cooperated with us for effective control of communicable diseases like Chikungunya and Kala-azar. We have received good cooperation from global organisations like UNICEF, WHO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH in the field of public health including in controlling various water borne diseases such as encephalitis and Covid management. Such efforts will continue to be made with mutual cooperation,” he said. He said that there has been unprecedented improvement in UP in the field of health and nutrition. “On many parameters, our performance is better than the national average. In this work too, we have got the cooperation of BMGF. There has been a big decline in the maternal and infant mortality rate in UP,” he said. The CM said, “At the same time, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, efforts are being made in mission mode for vaccination of children in the country through campaigns like Mission Indradhanush. The result of these efforts is that the health security of every citizen is being ensured in the state,” he said. He said that a lot remains to be done in the field of health security in UP. “The major challenge we have is the availability of skilled nursing and paramedics.
In this regard, a software has been developed in the state under Mission Niramaya, which has become a good model for training and skill development of nursing paramedical staff. The Foundation can cooperate with us to produce qualified and skilled, professional nursing staff, paramedics,” he said. Yogi said that during the outbreak of Covid-19, there were no ICU and ventilator facilities in 36 districts of the state. “However, the government ensured the availability of ventilators and ICU by developing dedicated Covid hospitals in all the districts. Virtual ICUs were also at work through master trainers,” he said. Overwhelmed by the efforts of women empowerment in UP, Melinda praised the policies of CM Yogi Adityanath. She said that due to the efforts of CM Yogi, the self-confidence of women will increase and leadership potential will be developed in them. In this way, these women will be able to play an important role in the development of the country and the state. These efforts have proved that women too can lead. The CM also invited Melinda Gates and her colleagues to participate in the proposed Global Investors Summit to be held in the state from February 10 to 12 next year.