KHARTOUM -- For the past one year no case of polio has been reported in Sudan, DPA quoted the World Health Organisation (WHO) as announcing in Khartoum Saturday.

"The absence of poliomyelitis for one year confirms that Sudan is on the track to eradicate polio," said a press release by the Khartoum WHO office.

The statement said the last polio case was reported on april 24, 2001 and that if the absence of the disease continued for three years, Sudan would be certified as free of the virus infection which attacks the central nervous system, leading to paralysis.

The WHO attributed this success to the efforts made on the ground by all parties concerned including the Sudanese people, UNICEF, Rotary and WHO itself.

It also noted the support of the governments of the Netherlands and Japan and the United Nations foundation.

The United Nations has been able to arrange a cease-fire between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) whenever there is a polio vaccination campaign throughout the country.

The WHO has urged everybody to continue working hard until the disease is eradicated in Sudan in particular and the world in general.