India achieved a milestone by completing three years since the last polio case was reported in the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) praised India for its polio eradication program.
India was known as a polio-endemic country for a very long time. However, the WHO was all praises for India for the absence of any reported polio case in the last three years. However, the organization is yet to make an announcement confirming there were no undetected cases of the crippling disease.
''India was once thought to be the most difficult country in which to achieve polio eradication,'' Global Polio Eradication Initiative said in a statement, according to BBC News.
WHO Director General Margaret Chan praised India for this achievement and said that the country was moving in a big way to promote better health for their women and children. Though the WHO took India off the list of polio endemic countries in February 2012, it will declare it "polio free" only if no fresh case is reported for the next one year.
"I want to urge countries in this region. Please continue to champion universal access to healthcare. That is the platform to deliver healthy human capital that is important for sustainable development in the future," she said while addressing the meeting of Health Ministers of South-East Asia Region in the presence of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee
The DG also went on to praise Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who expressed his joy about the achievement, especially at a time when India is only four months away from being declared a "polio-free" country.
"The long and worthwhile journey has been made possible due to the strong political will and continuous leadership at the highest levels of government and undivided support of WHO, translating into adequate financial resources, vastly improved coverage, dedicated officers and massive efforts by more than two million volunteers, "he said.
India reported the last wild polio virus type 1 case in Howrah, West Bengal, January 13, 2011. Nearly 2.3 million volunteers visit 209 million homes to vaccinate some 170 million children under five years of age in India during every round of immunization.
