The island nation’s feat comes with a backdrop of a three-decade civil war and limited resources, and puts it ahead of its neighbors India, Thailand and Bangladesh.

“Sri Lanka’s achievement is truly remarkable. In the mid-20th century it was among the most malaria-affected countries, but now it is malaria-free,” WHO Regional Director, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said. “This ….signifies the great leaps that can be made when targeted action is taken.”

Sri Lanka began its anti-malaria campaign in 1911 just ahead of the disease peaking at 1.5 million cases and almost achieved malaria elimination in 1963, when just 17 cases of the disease were recorded but funding was diverted and malaria took hold again. It took five decades to recover the ground lost against the disease.

By 2006, the country recorded less than 1,000 cases of malaria per year and since October 2012, the indigenous cases were down to zero. For the past three-and-a-half years, no locally transmitted cases have been recorded, Sri Lanka’s health ministry said.