ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said the government was taking all measures to completely curb polio from Pakistan and sought cooperation of the provinces, national and international agencies in this regard. Welcoming the participants at the inaugural meeting of the National Task Force on Polio Eradication at the Prime Minister Secretariat, the Prime Minister said the elimination of the disease has been one of the top priorities of the government. The inaugural meeting was attended by Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Barrister Masood Kausar, Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Amir Haider Khan Hoti, Parliamentarians, representatives of the International Agencies and senior officers of the federal and provincial governments. The Prime Minister said the President of Pakistan too has launched an emergency plan to eradicate polio from Pakistan. He mentioned the meeting on January 14, to oversee the steps taken to eradicate polio and the establishment of the National Task Force on Polio Eradication. He said despite increase in the members of the National Task Force, there were reports of occurrences of polio cases in a few provinces that reflect poorly on performance. The Prime Minister said that he had requested all the chief ministers through his letter dated February 25, to advise all the chief secretaries and deputy commissioners, political agents, and district coordination officers to take personal charge of the implementation in the areas of their jurisdiction. The Prime Minister also urged all parents to ensure that their children receive the polio vaccine during the forthcoming campaigns. He also sought generous support of international partners in this regard. Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Barrister Masood Kausar said despite civil-military coordination there were yet certain areas where militancy was hampering the polio campaign. He also mentioned the movement of Afghan refugees that was not helping contain the disease. Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif assured to comply with the national commitment to control the disease. He said the provincial government was fully geared to check the disease throughout the province. Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Amir Haider Khan Hoti expressing dissatisfaction over the situation in the province for eradication of polio hoped that it would improve with more stringent measures. He said efforts were underway to improve things at Union and District Council level. MNA Dr Azra Fazal Pechohu from Sindh said the province was showing poor progress and every person needed to take full responsibility in addressing the issue and counter the disease. She stressed the need of more involvement of the leadership at the highest level in this regard. Chief Minister Sindh said situation had been improved but more concerted efforts were required to implement the national policy on polio in letter and spirit. Representative from Balochistan Perveen Magsi said high number of polio cases were due to the inaccessible areas, both on account of security as well as communication and non-availability of roads. She also called for moulding the socio-cultural atmosphere, as well as ensuring political commitment to overcome the crippling disease. Secretary Health said no case has been identified in Punjab, while 12 cases have been registered in Sindh, including four in Karachi and eight in interior Sindh. Three cases have been reported from Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from Balochistan and 18 from FATA, while Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are free of polio. Representative of national chain for Rotary International said Rs 1.1 billion have so far been spent on the polio eradication and said only one case has been registered in India and Afghanistan each, as compared to 44 in Pakistan and more work needs to be done. Representatives of UNICEF and JICA stressed the need for quality planning and appreciated Pakistan 's efforts in this regard. They noted that polio type C has now been eradicated from Pakistan.