Gates Foundation Condemns Attacks on Health Workers in Nigeria

SEATTLE (February 8, 2013) — 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. 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.

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.

By working together, we will overcome this tragedy and ensure that all people, wherever they may live, have access to health services.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

###