Islamabad, Dec 14 (IANS): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged parents to ensure that their children are administered with the anti-polio vaccine not only for the sake of their health but also for the nation.

While speaking at the launching ceremony of the Nationwide Polio Eradication Campaign here on Friday, the premier pointed out that Pakistan is one of two countries in the world where polio continues to exist and termed it a "matter of shame", reports Dawn news.

"To the mothers who are watching this, I request you to go to the health workers and get your children vaccinated yourself if they haven't been administered with polio drops," he said, adding that around four million children under the age of five would be vaccinated in the ongoing campaign.

"This is important for your children and for our nation as well," he said.

Khan said that now that the economy was improving and the government was promoting tourism, it would be a "stain" for Pakistan if people started to believe that the country was "exporting polio".

Until now, the countrywide tally for the year has reached 98 as compared to 12 in 2018 and eight in 2017.

During the current year so far, 72 cases have been reported from KP, 14 from Sindh, seven from Balochistan and five from Punjab.