Through a robust national immunization programme, Bangladesh mostly rid itself of the crippling disease in 2003. But the country reported a final case of poliomyelitis in March 2006, and then had to wait for India to go three years without detecting any polio cases. The two neighbours are among 11 countries within WHO’s South-East Asia Region. Under WHO policy, all 11 could have years running to obtain “polio-free” status as a bloc. For Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and North Korea, that long-awaited certification came on March 27th in New Delhi, when the 7th meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication declared all 11 free of polio.

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