PATNA: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundationhas decided to start work in the health sector in 8 districts of Bihar. This was intimated by Foundation’s country director Ashok Alexander who met state health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey here. “We will start work for integrated health, to reduce infant mortality and check diseases like tuberculosis, diarrhea and kala-azar,” he said.
The districts being taken by the Foundation on priority basis are Patna, Goplagunj, East and West Champaran, Khagaria, Begusarai, Saharsa and Samastipur. The health minister appreciated the initiative and suggested to include Bhagalpur, Munger and Gaya in their priority list.
The Foundation has entered into an agreement withBihar government to work in the health sector. A couple of months back Bill Gates and Melinda Gates visited Bihar and went to some villages to see themselves the health condition of the locals. The couple appreciated the state government’s move for immunization and controlling the polio cases.
Bill Gates, who has already visited Bihar twice in less than two years is expected to revisit the state again next month and go to East Champaran, if civil surgeon Kameshwar Mandl is to be believed. Alexander went to Siswania village in the district with his team to prepare a health profile of the villagers.