In 2014, WHO South Asia Region including Bangladesh was declared a polio-free region by the regional certification committee of WHO South Asia Region.
This marked the official recognition for polio eradication from the region, a major public health milestone, and a result of decades of hard work from field dedicated teams of health workers.
SEARO Polio eradication event Before this great achievement, in 1999 WHO established at district level a network of Surveillance Medical Officers (SMOs) to support the Expanded Programme of Immunization to eradicate polio. “We knew it can be done”, recalls Dr.
Tanbirul Islam who joined WHO’s SMO network in 2009. “It was such a long-standing disease in the country that many doubted it can be