KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed profound concern over what it described as the worsening epidemiological indicators of major infectious and preventable diseases across the country, demanding a transparent audit of all government departments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in these areas.

In a statement, the association regretted that Pakistan continued to lag “disastrously” behind global health milestones despite billions of rupees funnelled through international grants, donor funding and national exchequers over the decades.

The association welcomed the recent administrative steps, such as the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) ordering a special audit of Global Fund-backed trusts managing HIV programmes, and demanded a transparent, sweeping and comprehensive forensic audit of all government departments, vertical programmes and NGOs operating in the fields of polio, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis eradication.

“While a huge amount of money is disbursed annually under the banner of disease eradication, public health infrastructure remains dilapidated, healthcare providers are overworked, and disease burdens continue to multiply. Chronic institutional inertia, lack of transparency, lack of grassroots execution, and administrative malpractices have rendered these vertical programmes ineffective,” Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro of PMA said.

On behalf of the association, he demanded the urgent implementation of independent forensic and financial audits, overseen by credible, non-partisan financial watchdogs, of all federal and provincial disease control programmes and NGOs dealing with polio, TB, HIV and hepatitis.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026