Pakistan Medical Association warns of ‘man-made epidemic’ over syringe reuse

The association also called for a high-level inquiry into how “falsely labelled” syringes passed regulatory checks and entered the supply chain, while urging stringent legal action against clinics and practitioners found using or possessing banned conventional syringes. “In addition, the government must initiate an emergency awareness campaign to educate the public on identifying genuine auto-disable syringes,” the PMA said in a statement. It directly held the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and provincial health authorities responsible for a “catastrophic failure”. “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. The association regretted that the ban on conventional disposable syringes imposed in 2021, which was once hailed as a landmark step for infection control, had now been exposed as a “paper-only” policy. “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 statement said. “We are witnessing the emergence of a new, man-made epidemic. Pakistan’s health indicators are already under strain; we cannot afford a