The
World Health Organization(WHO) has declared South-East Asia region, polio-free.
The certification is being hailed as a historic milestone in the global fight
to eradicate the deadly virus.
It comes after India officially recorded three
years without a new case of polio. This achievement shows 80 percent of the world is now free of polio, although the
disease is still endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Other countries
in the South East Asia region, such as Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan, have
been free of the virus for more than 15 years.
Key facts: polio
Ø Polio
mainly affects young children
Ø Severe
cases of polio can lead to paralysis and death
Ø The
World Health Assembly embarked on a global eradication program in 1988
Ø Australia
was declared polio-free in 2000
Ø In
2013 polio was endemic in only three countries: Nigeria, Pakistan and
Afghanistan