'Criminal gaps’ fuelling HIV spread: PMA

                                                                                      Sindh profile

Doctors call for crackdown on illegal blood banks, unsafe injections and unhygienic barber practices

IV Report

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Monday issued a strong warning over what it described as Pakistan’s rapidly worsening HIV/AIDS situation, blaming “criminal gaps” in health infrastructure, weak regulation and unsafe medical practices for accelerating the spread of the virus.

In a statement issued from the PMA Central Secretariat on the occasion of National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said that while global researchers were making progress toward an effective HIV vaccine, Pakistan could not afford to ignore the immediate failures within its own healthcare system.

The association expressed alarm over the growing number of local HIV transmissions, stating that more than 350,000 people were currently estimated to be living with HIV in Pakistan, while only around 84,000 cases had formally been registered.

“Nearly 80 per cent of infected individuals remain unaware of their status,” the PMA warned, adding that Pakistan was now facing one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the region.

The doctors’ body said the country’s crisis was being driven not only by conventional high-risk behaviour, but also by deeply entrenched systemic failures at the community level.

Particularly alarming, it noted, was the unchecked operation of illegal and substandard blood banks and diagnostic laboratories, where unscreened or poorly screened blood products continued to place patients at grave risk.

The PMA criticised serious operational weaknesses in provincial Blood Transfusion Authorities, saying ineffective oversight had allowed unsafe blood banking practices to persist despite repeated warnings from health experts.

It warned that vulnerable groups — especially thalassaemia patients, surgical patients and children requiring repeated transfusions — were being exposed to HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C through unsafe transfusion practices often managed by unqualified personnel.

The association also highlighted the widespread reuse of contaminated syringes by untrained practitioners, calling it a major driver of mass transmission.

At the community level, the PMA drew attention to unhygienic practices in barber shops and roadside salons, where unsterilised razor blades and shaving instruments were routinely reused on multiple customers.

The association further expressed concern over the rising vulnerability of children, noting that over 2,100 paediatric HIV cases had been reported during the past 15 months, particularly in rural Sindh and parts of Punjab.

The PMA demanded an immediate nationwide forensic audit of blood banks and diagnostic laboratories, strict enforcement of licensing and hygiene standards, mandatory use of auto-disable syringes, and a zero-tolerance crackdown on quackery and unsafe medical practices.

Chart, data & photo sources: Official