KYOTO -- The World Health Organization on Sunday declared the western Pacific region free of the virus that causes polio, an important step in international efforts to eradicate the crippling childhood disease from the world.
Containing 37 countries and territories, the area became the second of six WHO-designated global zones to be declared free of poliovirus, the Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication said. North and South America were given the WHO certification in 1994.
The commission, meeting for a conference in Kyoto, is composed of an independent panel of eight public health experts who made the determination based on data submitted by each country.