ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children were vaccinated against poliovirus, as the international community marks World Polio Day today, Saturday, to raise about the disease.

Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis and, in some cases, death. It can be prevented through safe and effective polio vaccines. Every year on Oct. 24, the international community marks World Polio Day to raise awareness of the importance of polio vaccination and to celebrate parents, professionals and volunteers who take part in the fight against the disease.

However, eradicating polio in Pakistan remains a challenge due to frequent militant attacks against vaccinators and law enforcers guarding them. Conservative elements and militant groups in Pakistan falsely claim polio vaccines are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children or cause infertility, prompting vaccine refusals.

Last month, unidentified gunmen killed two police constables deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in the southwestern Balochistan province, police said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

“I urge all parents and caregivers to ensure that every child under five receives two drops during each polio campaign,” Zardari said in a statement. “Routine immunization must also remain a priority to protect children against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Pakistan plans to vaccinate more than 23.9 million children during an upcoming vaccination drive, that will start on Nov. 2 and last till Nov. 8 across 997 targeted districts of the country.

Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries worldwide where polio remains endemic. Pakistan has so far reported seven cases of poliovirus this year.

Pakistan has conducted repeated nationwide and targeted vaccination campaigns as it seeks to halt the transmission of wild poliovirus. Last month, Pakistan vaccinated 29.3 million in a nationwide polio vaccinate drive.

According to government data, Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8 percent from an estimated 20,000 cases in the early 1990s to 31 last year.