Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday in meeting with Public Health Ministry officials called for the full elimination of polio across the country, a Presidential Palace statement said.
According to the statement, during the meeting Ghani listened to the health officials reports on developments and challenges ahead of the polio implementation program.
Ghani said that challenges must be identified, and remote areas should be considered and also a clear and comprehensive analysis must be done in this regard.
The statement further said that in order to effectively implement and expedite the polio eradication program, Ghani has directed the relevant authorities, in particular the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), to take serious and urgent action in coordination with local authorities.
At the end of the meeting Ghani emphasized that relevant administrations and centers and provinces in order to implement the polio eradication program must use all their facilities in coordination with other relevant departments.
According to UN statistics, 34 new cases were recorded last year, 28 in Pakistan and 6 in Afghanistan.
The Afghan health officials, however, blame the issue on a lack of security and the negligence of families in vaccinating their children against the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has meanwhile called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to accelerate their anti-polio drive.
Recent polio vaccination drives have however been hampered by security issues in both countries.
A number of vaccinators have been shot dead in Pakistan and Afghanistan, endangering the lives of thousands of children.
The global campaign to eradicate the disease began in 1988 when an estimated 350,000 polio cases were reported in 125 countries.
Polio is a highly infectious virus that affects mainly young children. The virus is transmitted person-to-person and mainly through a fecal-oral route or through contaminated water or food.
Polio can paralyze a child within hours of exposure.
Polio has been eliminated everywhere but Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.