Dubai: Lauding India's pulse polio programme as "remarkable", the World Bank on September 22 said it will soon decide on India's request for $ 80 million in aid for the last phase of its polio eradication programme.

"We will take a decision on the request in the next couple of months," Michael F Carter, Country Director for India said on the sidelines of the World Bank meeting in Dubai.

Largely the eradication programme has been remarkably successful though there has been some upsurge in recent years, he said adding "we would like to help sustain the effort for further-few years and should be able to negotiate the request for assistance of $ 80 million very shortly".

"Only seven countries still have incidence of polio and India is one of them. In global terms we are at the end game and if there is a major concerted effort, polio will be eradicated in India like small pox," he said.

He said the Bank was keenly watching the progress the country has made in tackling polio and large parts of the map of India were free from the disease though there are still some cases in some northern states like Uttar Pradesh.

PTI