India officially received certificates from World Health Organisation (WHO), declaring the country yaws and maternal and neonatal tetanus free. The certificates were presented to Union health minister JP Nadda at the 69th Session of the WHO regional committee for south-east Asia region held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

• India is the first country to be officially acknowledged as being yaws-free. The elimination of tetanus as a public health problem means that in India, the annual rate of maternal and neonatal tetanus is now less than 1 per 1000 live births.

• The ministry plans to sustain the achievements by health system strengthening; high routine immunization coverage and promotion of institutional/clean delivery/clean cord practices and effective surveillance system.

• The gains in keeping India free from preventable deaths continues with introduction of newer vaccines such as Rotavirus vaccine, Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), Adult Japanese Encephalitis and soon-to- be introduced Measles-Rubella in the public health programme of the country.

YAWS

Yaws is a chronic disfiguring and debilitating childhood infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue. It is one of the first diseases targeted by WHO and UNICEF for eradication in the 1950s. The disease affects skin, bone and cartilage.