In a move to boost Bihar's public health standards, the State Government on Wednesday sealed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who paid a visit to Bihar on Wednesday, signed a pact while Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar was present there, with the intention of making a fast progress in State-wide improvement in maternal, newborn and child health.

Mr. Gates stated that Bihar was prioritized because of the immunization concern and laid stress upon reducing the infant death rates, full immunization coverage and breastfeeding.

Stating that the MoC is a landmark, he expressed contentment at the advancement made in the instances of polio cases in the Kosi belt regions, along with the steps being taken, in order to improvise women’s health in the State.

As per the MoC, the Foundation will offer technical, management and program design support by means of NGOs in the areas of maternal, neonatal and child health; maternal and child nutrition; vaccine-preventable ailments, tuberculosis, pneumonia and Kala-azar, amongst others.

Earlier through the day, Mr. Gates paid visit to the Alauli block in Khagaria and the Katoria block in Banka region to assess the Foundation's effort on polio, Kala-azar and tuberculosis annihilation programs.