The World Health Organization declared India and 10 other Asian countries polio-free on Thursday, three years after no new cases have been recorded, Deccan Herald reported.
Home to a quarter of the world's population, the Southeast Asian region is now formally reported to be free of the disease, the Associated Press reported.
Bangladesh, Bhutan, North Korea, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste were 10 other countries awarded with polio-free certificates.
A country is declared to be polio-free by WHO standards when no new case is reported for three consecutive years. In January 2011, India reported its last polio case, according to Deccan Herald.
Two days of reviewing evidence from each country was carried out by an independent panel of 11 experts in public health, epidemiology, virology, clinical medicine and related specialties constituting the Southeast Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication.
Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director of Southeast Asia, handed out certificates to the health ministers of each country in a prestigious ceremony in New Delhi.
"This (southeast Asia) is the fourth region to be certified polio-free. The distant dream of polio eradication in the region is now a reality," Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
The success of the campaign against polio was largely pushed by constant supply of resources, Azad said.
"It was an unbelievable operation. It is a significant step towards global eradication of polio."
Nineteen years ago, polio was responsible for crippling more than 50,000 children in India every year. The program has tried to eradicate the disease since 1995.
According to Deccan Herald, a team of 2.3 million polio volunteers and 150,000 supervisors worked day and night to reach every child, Azad said.
"The goal of polio eradication was made in 1988. It marks one of the biggest public health achievements," Singh said. "Let us not forget that the war against polio is not over. There are two regions left where polio still needs to be eradicated."
The structure used to effectively eradicate polio will now be put into effect to finish the threat of measles from the region. The target date has been set for 2020, Singh said.
