India on Monday declared itself a polio-free country for the third consecutive year without a single new case of the disease and braced itself for the March-end review by WHO to declare the entire south-east Asia region polio free. "It is a matter of pride for the nation that not a single case of polio has been detected in the three years. This is one of India's monumental and biggest milestone achieved, through a massive and sustained immunization programme," health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said. 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". In 2012 the World Health Organisation (WHO) 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. An official function to celebrate the occasion will he held on 11th February in which President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and WHO Director General Margaret Chan along with international NGOs will be present. On the issue of risks of infection from neighbouring countries, Azad said "right from the beginning, we have vaccinating the children coming from Pakistan when they would cross the border.
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