Africa now free from wild polio virus

ADDIS ABABA - Health authorities have declared Africa free of the wild polio virus after decades of efforts, a major step in the campaign to eradicate the crippling viral disease worldwide. Tuesday's historic announcement by the African Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication during a World Health Organisation ( WHO) event came four years after the continent's last case was reported in northern Nigeria. The commission, an independent body, confirmed that all 47 countries in the WHO's Africa region have eradicated the disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours.  The news was hailed by health experts, who also urged continued vigilance over the still-existing threat posed by polio vaccine-derived outbreaks in more than a dozen countries. "This is one of the greatest achievements in public health history,"  WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus co- wrote in an  opinion piece published in Al Jazeera. "Delivering polio vaccines to every child in the African region and wiping out the wild virus is no small feat, and the human resources, skills and experience gained in the process leave behind a legacy in how to tackle diseases and reach the poorest and most marginalised communities with lifesaving services," Tedros and Holger Knaack, president of Rotary International, wrote. Meanwhile, the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say the world's largest measles outbreak that killed more than 7, 000 children has now ended. At a press conference in the capital, Kinshasa, Health Minister, Eteni Longondo, said measles no longer existed in the country and that a formal declaration about the end of the epidemic "will be made soon." - ALJAZEERA/BBC.