Colombo, July 8 (IANS) Maldives and Sri Lanka were verified on Wednesday for having eliminated rubella, making them the first two countries in the World Health Organization South-East Asia region to achieve that ahead of the 2023 target, the WHO in Sri Lanka said in a statement.

The announcement by the WHO was made after the fifth meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination, held virtually, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Commission comprises 11 independent international experts in the fields of epidemiology, virology and public health.

A country is verified as having eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission of the measles and rubella viruses for over three years in the presence of a well-performing surveillance system, the statement added.

--IANS sdr/bg