India marked three years since its last reported polio case, putting it on course to be formally declared free of the disease later this year.

The country has made great strides against polio in recent years through a rigorous vaccination campaign.

But for many in India - where polio victims with twisted limbs are a common sight on the streets - these advances have come too late.

Polio is a vaccine-preventable disease that has been eradicated in most countries.

But it still causes paralysis or death in some parts of the world, including Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Polio usually infects children under five when they drink contaminated water.

"India was once thought to be the most difficult country in which to achieve polio eradication," the Global Polio Eradication Initiative said in a statement.

The World Health Organisation stills need to confirm that there are no undetected cases before it formally declares India polio-free in March.

Widespread poverty, dense population, poor sanitation, high levels of migration and a weak public health system made the task of reaching every child under five difficult.

An army of nearly 2.5 million volunteers, doctors and medical workers carried out a campaign across the country to vaccinate all children over three years old in order to wipe out the scourge.

As a result the number of polio cases fell sharply from 741 in 2009 to 42 in 2010 and the last case of polio was reported in eastern India in 2011.