Somalia has made a vital step towards being declared polio free, after marking a year without a recorded case.

Somalia’s Health Minister Hawo Mohamed said that if no cases are reported or seen in the country for the coming three years, the horn of Africa nation will be removed from the list of countries where Polio is endemic.

"It is a proud moment and achievement for the whole nation… We hope that we will get rid out of this paralyzing disease," said the minister.

Attending the ceremony held in Mogadish, Head of World Health Organization (WHO) office in Somalia welcomed the country’s progress towards the eradication of the infectious disease.

Somalia was polio-free for six years. A new outbreak started in April 2013 after an importation with 194 cases reported in 2013.

Despite achieving polio-free status, Somalia has had sustained circulation of vaccine-derived polioviruses since 2009 due to low routine immunization coverage rates and lack of supplementary immunization activities in insecure areas.

Global health experts are hoping polio can become only the second human infectious disease to be eradicated, after smallpox.

http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/news/492005-somalia-celebrates-1-year-of-being-polio-free.html