India Winning Polio Fight | Indian Decade: India has closed out the first polio-free year in the country’s history. As noted by the World Health Organization (WHO), this marks significant progress for a country that as recently as 1994 was experiencing as many as 4,791 cases a year. The polio-free year means that India will no longer be considered a “polio-endemic” country, leaving its South Asian neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as Nigeria, as the only remaining nations holding this label.