Islamabad, May 2 (IANS) The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has warned of a looming “man-made epidemic” in the country due to the manufacturing and use of reusable syringes despite a countrywide ban, local media reported on Saturday.
The PMA demanded a nationwide audit and seizure of non-compliant, falsely labelled stocks. It also blamed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and provincial authorities for the ‘catastrophic failure’, Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported.
“The discovery of syringes falsely labelled as ‘auto-disable’ (AD) that function as reusable instruments is a criminal deception. It is beyond unfortunate that the very regulatory bodies entrusted with the safety of medical instruments have failed so fundamentally,” the newspaper quoted from a statement issued by PMA.
It asked for an audit of all syringe-manufacturing units and the seizure of all non-compliant stocks, and called for a high-level inquiry into how “falsely labelled” syringes passed the regulatory checks and got into the supply chain.
“In addition, the government must initiate an emergency awareness campaign to educate the public on identifying genuine auto-disable syringes,” the PMA said.
The association also stated that it regrets the ban on conventional disposable syringes, which was imposed in 2021, a step taken for infection control. However, it has now been exposed to be a “paper-only” policy, said the report.
“It is not merely a bureaucratic lapse; it is a direct assault on the lives of millions of Pakistanis. The PMA stands with the victims of this negligence and warns the government that unless immediate corrective measures are taken, the current rise in HIV cases will evolve into an uncontrollable national emergency,” it added.
An estimated 350,000 to 369,000 people are living with HIV in Pakistan, the PMA has stated.
“In the first quarter of 2026 alone, 894 new cases were recorded in Sindh, including 329 children. New HIV infections among children (0 to 14 years) have risen from 530 cases in 2010 to over 1,800 annually,” it said. “In 2023, more than 1,100 children died due to AIDS-related complications, a direct consequence of reused syringes and unsafe medical practices.”
The PMA also noted that Pakistan bears the second-highest burden of Hepatitis C globally.
The statement also warned that “Without immediate intervention, this number could rise to 12.6 million by 2030.”
A Global Fund (GF) team is expected to visit Islamabad soon to examine the situation amid the rising number of HIV cases. It has invested over USD 1 billion in Pakistan over the past two decades to defeat HIV, TB and Malaria.
–IANS
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