‘Wonderful!’: Bill Gates meets Health Minister, hails India’s Covid management
Microsoft Founder and Philanthropist Bill Gates, who is on a visit to India, met Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya in the national capital and also visited the War Room in the Health Ministry.
The War Room named National Public Health Observatory was shaped during Covid times.
During his meeting, Bill Gates appreciated India’s COVID Management, vaccination drive and Digital Health initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the Health Minister said in a tweet. They also discussed India’s G20 health priorities, PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and eSanjeevani.
“Wonderful meeting with @BillGates. He appreciated India’s COVID-19 Management, Vaccination Drive & Digital Health initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. We discussed India’s G20 health priorities, PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and eSanjeevani,” Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Wednesday.
Bill Gates on India visit
Earlier, the Microsoft Co-founder met ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and his classmate Anand Mahindra. Bill Gates gifted him an autographed copy of his book. Anand Mahindra shared picture of their meeting and of note that Bill Gates wrote for him.
“Good to see Bill Gates again. And, refreshingly, the entire conversation between our teams was not about IT or any business but about how we could work together to multiply social impact. (Though there was some profit involved for me; I got a free, autographed copy of his book),” Mahindra wrote on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Bill Gates also met Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das at the central bank’s regional office in Mumbai. They held discussions on a range of issues, including financial inclusion, payment systems, microfinance and digital lending.
Bill Gates had informed about his India visit in his blog last week saying, “”I’m headed back to India next week. Although I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years—doing everything from checking out toilets to visiting a village that’s home to the one poorest, most underserved castes in India—I haven’t been back since before the pandemic. I can’t wait to see how much progress has been made in that time.”
In the same blog, he had hailed India and said that the country gives hope for the future. He added that India proved that it could solve the big problems at once even when the world is facing multiple crises.
