The World Health Organisation (WHO) has certified India as a Polio Free country. A Health Ministry statement issued in New Delhi this evening said that India is now one of the 11 countries in the South-East Region which is free from polio virus.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad received the official certificate in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Azad said, the achievement has been possible with resolute will at highest levels, technological innovations like the indigenous bivalent polio vaccines and adequate domestic financial resources.

The achievement makes the South-East Region, the fourth WHO Region to be certified polio-free, after the Region of the Americas in 1994, the Western Pacific Region in 2000 and the European Region in 2002.