International condemnation has trailed Friday’s killing of
nine vaccination workers in Kano state as US billionaire and polio campaign
donor in Nigeria, Mr Bill Gates has expressed concern, calling the apparent
terrorist attack a tragedy, and “unacceptable.”
In a statement issued on Friday night on behalf of Mr Gates,
the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said of the Kano killing: “Our
sympathy goes out to the victims and their families who were caught up in this
morning’s terrible attack in Nigeria’s Kano State.”
According to the foundation, “any attack on health workers
anywhere is unacceptable. This tragic incident is an attack on the delivery of
basic health services to the most vulnerable
families.”
But the Gates Foundation said it would not be deterred in
its campaign to help families in Northern Nigeria who needed vaccination.
“We will continue to support the people of Nigeria, their
traditional and religious leaders, and the Government, in their tireless
efforts to create an environment where mothers and children can be safely
reached with essential interventions by frontline health workers, such as
vaccines to prevent polio, measles, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough and
hepatitis.”
The statement added that, “by working together, we will
overcome this tragedy and ensure that all people, wherever they may live, have
access to health services.”
It was recalled that Mr Gates had recently
expressed worry about Boko Haram and terrorist activities in northern Nigeria
where his foundation has played a frontline role in vaccination efforts. The
Gates Foundation spends about $1bn yearly on polio vaccination with a large
chunk of that amount spent on Nigeria.
Gates had declared that for him, health workers killed by
terrorists, are his personal heroes and one way to honor them is to get their
jobs completely done.
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