Afghan President Hamid Karzai is urging militants to allow health teams to vaccinate children against polio, after his government said the number of cases of the disease in the country had sharply increased.

Mr. Karzai's office said Tuesday that the latest Health Ministry report shows a three-fold rise in the number of polio cases last year compared with 2010.

Of the 80 reported cases last year, the majority were in Afghanistan's restive south.

President Karzai says those who stand in the way of vaccination are “the true enemies of our children's future.”

The Afghan leader also called on religious scholars and community leaders to cooperate with immunization teams.

The appeal comes a week after India marked one year without a new case of polio.

Afghanistan is now one of just three nations where polio remains endemic. The two others are neighboring Pakistan and Nigeria.

Polio, which usually affects children, can cause paralysis, deformities and death.