Islamabad, May 2 (IANS). The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has warned of a “man-made pandemic” spreading in the country. PMA says that despite the ban across the country, reusable syringes are being manufactured and used. This information was given in local media reports on Saturday.
According to the report of ‘Dawn’ newspaper, the PMA has demanded that all the stocks across the country should be checked and those which are against the rules or are mislabeled should be confiscated. Also, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and provincial officials have been held responsible for this major failure.
The PMA said syringes that are being sold labeled as ‘auto-disable’ but are actually reusable constitute a serious fraud and crime. The organization said that the failure of institutions whose responsibility is to ensure the safety of medical equipment is extremely worrying.
The PMA has demanded that all syringe manufacturing factories be inspected and all goods not following the rules be immediately confiscated. Also, it was said that there should be a high-level investigation into how the mislabeled syringes passed the test and reached the market.
Additionally, the PMA has appealed to the Government of Pakistan to launch an emergency awareness campaign to educate people on how to identify genuine auto-disable syringes.
The association has also expressed concern about the ban on general disposable syringes imposed in 2021. This ban was imposed to prevent infection, but now PMA says that this policy is limited to papers only.
PMA said that this is not just an administrative mistake but a serious matter involving the lives of lakhs of people. He warned that if immediate action was not taken, HIV cases in Pakistan could turn into a major and uncontrollable national crisis.
According to PMA, around 3,50,000 to 3,69,000 people are living with HIV in Pakistan.
In the first quarter of 2026 alone, 894 new cases were reported in Sindh, which included 329 children. HIV infection among children aged 0 to 14 years has increased from 530 cases in 2010 to more than 1,800 each year.
The report also said that more than 1,100 children died due to AIDS-related complications in 2023, which is largely attributed to the use of syringes and unsafe medical practices.
The PMA said Pakistan has the second highest number of hepatitis C cases in the world. He warned that if immediate action is not taken, this number could reach 1.26 crore by 2030.
Along with this it was told that a team of Global Fund will soon come to Islamabad to take stock of the situation. Over the past two decades, the organization has invested more than US $1 billion to fight HIV, TB and malaria in Pakistan.
–IANS
AY/PM