India will be the first country in the world to get the yaws-free certificate, a major achievement for the country’s health sector. With no case of yaws, a bacterial infectious disease, reported for the last one decade across the States, the Modi Government will get the WHO certificate next year. This will be the second major feat for India, which was declared polio-free last year.
Yaws is a chronic bacterial infection caused by Treponema pallidum subsp Pertenue. Poor socio-economic conditions facilitate the spread of yaws.
“A WHO team had last month visited tribal areas in various States to ascertain the status. They visited Khammam, Phulbani, Koraput, Mayurbhanj and Chandrapur besides a few others which have reported yaws in the past. But they did not find any evidence of the transmission of the disease among children.
“Having satisfied, the team has communicated that a declaration to delist the country from the list of nation inflicted with the disease will be made by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in April next year,” S Venketesh, director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) under the Union Health Ministry told The Pioneer.
Terming it a major milestone, SK Jain, from Department of Parasitic Diseases of the NCDC, said, India will be the first nation in the world to get such a prestigious tag. After WHA declaration, the certificate will follow.
“Currently, at least 13 countries are reporting the disease to the WHO. The WHO roadmap targeted yaws for eradication by 2020 but India has achieved this landmark much earlier. The final cases were reported in 2003,” he added.
Jain said following the successful implementation of the yaws Eradication Programme (YEP) India had declared eradication of the disease in 2006 itself. It had sought WHO certification in 2011. But, it had to wait in the absence of clear guidelines on the roadmap for eradication and elimination of the disease from the WHO on the eradication of the yaws.
“Though WHO had recommended sero-survey among children under five years of age, there were no proper guidelines. India developed its own guidelines based on scientific knowledge and logistic considerations. The sero-survey guidelines developed by India were later agreed by the WHO and formed a part of the WHO document in 2012,” the official added.
In India, the disease was reported from the communities living in 49 hilly and forested areas in the tribal inhabiteed districts in states of Chhattishgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Humans are the main reservoir of infection and children bear the brunt of the disease. It is transmitted primarily through skin contact with an infected person. If left untreated, multiple lesions appear all over the body, leading to chronic disfigurement and disability.