ISLAMABAD, Feb 15: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over incidence of polio in Pakistan and urged President Asif Ali Zardari to take up eradication of the disease as a national priority.

In a letter to the president, he expressed concern over outbreak of P1 type of the virus in some areas which had enjoyed the status of being polio-free for a long time.

“I am concerned that the most dangerous type 1 polio virus has spread into previously uninfected areas of the country, notably Punjab and Islamabad,” sources quoted the United Nations secretary-general as saying.

According to an expert, two types of polio virus -- P1 and P3 -- exist in the world and type 1 is considered more deadly because of its ability to reproduce itself. “If a child is attacked by the P1 type of the virus, first 200 children under the age of five years living in a radius of 1km are in danger of catching the virus, while this is not the case with P3.”

Mr Ban called for highlighting polio eradication as a national priority by involving all sectors of the society and engaging all the chief ministers and chief secretaries. He termed the step vital for “re-energising” the Polio Eradication Initiative.

Pakistan Reported 118 polio cases over the past year and for the first time in four years crossed the figure of 100 cases in a year.

Another expert termed the ongoing military operation in parts of the NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas the biggest reason for the outbreak last year. “How can you control the spread of the deadly polio virus when the government is not ready to halt the operation in the NWFP and Fata and the anti-polio campaigns end in vain,” he said.

The Polio Eradication Programme was started in 1994 when thousands of cases were reported each year. The number of cases dropped to 32 in 2007. Four cases have been reported since the start of the current year.