There was good news in Asia Friday on World Malaria Day 2008 because Sri Lanka, once one of the nations in the region with the worst malaria rate, has nearly eradicated the disease.

Rabindra Abeyasinghe, acting director of the government's anti-malaria campaign, told U.N. humanitarian news agency IRIN, that the country would have had an easier time fighting the disease if it had been able to move about freely in the northern areas of the country that are controlled by Tamil Tiger separatists

Polio cases in 2008 have nearly doubled in Nigeria as officials struggle to fight an outbreak set off by the polio vaccine itself three years ago. The West African nation is fighting off various natural strains of the virus and outbreaks linked to the vaccine.

However, Nigeria has a very low immunization rate to fight the crippling disease because of its weak health system. Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease that is highly contagious and spreads easily from human-to-human contact. In endemic areas, wild polioviruses can infect virtually the entire human population

In what is being described as a major victory in the global fight against polio, the United Nations health agency announced on Tuesday that the disease has been eradicated in strife-torn Somalia thanks to the efforts of some 10,000 volunteers and health workers across the Horn of Africa nation.

"Against a backdrop of widespread conflict, large population movements and a dearth of functioning government infrastructure, transmission of poliovirus in the country has been successfully stopped," the UN World Health Organization (WHO) says in a press statement

"Polio will be history, like smallpox," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, believing total eradication is within sight.

And Ban credits the efforts of Chicago-based Rotary International and other United Nations partners in this effort

"Polio will be history, like smallpox," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, believing total eradication is within sight.

And Ban credits the efforts of Chicago-based Rotary International and other United Nations partners in this effort