The WHO's regional office met on Thursday in New Delhi, where they issued a polio-free certification for the region.

Countries in a particular region must have a three-year track record without a single case of polio before certification is awarded.

The WHO includes India as part of South-East Asia but excludes Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the highly infectious disease is still endemic.

In 2009, India accounted for more than half the number of polio cases worldwide.

It completed three years without a case of polio on January 13, marking a public health milestone for the country.

Sarah Crowe, a spokeswoman for the United Nations children's body UNICEF, says Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria can learn enormous lessons from India's success.

She told Asia Pacific that both government and community involvement in the Indian vaccination program has been critical in eradicating the disease.

"We had in 1985, 200,000 children with polio. To go from 200,000 to zero in this period is really extraordinary," she said.

"We salute the government, we salute the Indian communities.

"It's this commitment at the very highest level, political leadership, but most importantly it was in communities on the ground in the hardest to reach communities that really turned this program around."

Last year UNICEF joined a global call for governments to commit to eradicating polio by 2018.

 Source : 7 news