Bill Gates, co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has praised India for managing to eradicate polio despite all odds. “In 2012, we need to keep India and all the other places that are polio-free from getting re-infected,” he said.

Only three years ago, India had more polio cases than any nation, he noted. This is a milestone for global polio eradication and for children's health worldwide, Mr. Gates said in his fourth annual letter released worldwide on Wednesday.