DHAKA: India is marking three years since its last reported polio case, a landmark in the global battle against the disease.

It is seen as confirmation of one of India’s biggest public health successes, achieved through a massive and sustained immunisation programme.

India’s health minister hailed it as a ‘monumental milestone’, reports the BBC.

In 2012 the World Health Organisation removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria remain on it.

The list refers to countries in which the virus is circulating freely and the transmission of the infectious disease has not been stopped.

Despite India’s success, health experts fear a resurgence of polio in other parts of the world.

BDST: 2000 HRS, JAN 13, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor