The World Health Organization (WHO) has on Thursday conferred an award to the Maldives for having eradicated measles.

The award was conferred at WHO’s Seventieth Regional Committee Session for the South-East Asian region currently being held at Paradise Island Resort.

It was presented by WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO South-East Asia Region’s Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Sin.

The award was accepted by Minister of Health Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim.

In June, the Maldives was commended by WHO for eliminating measles, a disease listed to be one of the six primary childhood killer diseases.

A statement from the WHO said that the Maldives has not reported any cases of patients having fallen ill from the disease transmitting locally since 2009, while also noting that Bhutan has managed to control the illness since 2012.

Maldives and Bhutan are the first two nations in the South-East Asian region to have eliminated measles.