• Calls for nationwide audit, seizure of non-compliant, falsely labelled stocks • Blames Drap, provincial authorities for ‘catastrophic failure’ KARACHI: Warning of a looming “man-made epidemic”, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Thursday expressed serious concern over the widespread manufacture and use of reusable syringes despite a countrywide ban and demanded an audit of all syringe-manufacturing units and the seizure of all non-compliant stocks. 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.