Militant groups frequently targeted polio workers in Pakistan, killing a number of vaccinators, causing hindrance in protecting young children from the debilitating disease The army stepped in to provide protection for the health workers, making it possible to continue to run anti-polio campaigns and vaccinating millions of children ISLAMABAD: One of the founders of Microsoft, the leading US philanthropist Bill Gates, has praised the Pakistan Army for supporting the anti-polio drive in the country, during a phone call to General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday. In the call to Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Gates “acknowledged supporting efforts by Pakistan Army for successfully eradicating polio from Pakistan,” according to an official handout circulated by the military’s public relations wing. Mounting security challenges in recent years have made it increasingly difficult to run anti-polio campaigns in different parts of the country. Militant groups frequently targeted polio workers, killing a number of vaccinators. As a result, it became difficult for the state to protect young children from the debilitating disease. This problem was not just a factor in the tribal territories, but also in some major urban centers. Then the army stepped in to provide protection to the health workers, making it possible to continue to run anti-polio campaigns and undertake the mammoth task of vaccinating millions of children. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has made eradicating polio from different parts of the world one of its key campaigns. General Bajwa applauded Bill the Foundation for pursuing a wide range of noble causes across the world and assured the US business magnate that the army would continue to provide “full cooperation in best interests of Pakistan.”