“If this would have been done before, I think such a type of outbreak might not happened,” said Dr Imran Arbani, the whistle blower doctor who first uncovered the Ratodero outbreak.

“If all health care providers use auto destructible syringes, I think blood infections like HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, will not transmit any more.”

But he warned that supply shortages and lax enforcement would undermine the switch.

“The government has to make sure of 100 per cent availability of these syringes and concerned departments have to visit doctors and hospital to ensure their use.”

The ministry of national health services said manufacturers had been given exemptions on sales tax and customs duties to smooth the introduction.

“Conventional syringes will not be manufactured or sold in the market after November 30,” the ministry said.

“The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan is already aware of a potential shortage that may be created once the ban is in effect, but it is working diligently to predict any supply and demand issues and will closely monitor any price hikes.”

Countries around the world are attempting to switch to safer syringes for the same reasons. Large national immunisation programmes have broadly switched already, but the use of syringes for treatments has lagged behind.

Pakistan’s overstretched and badly funded public health system means its 220m residents rely heavily on small private health clinics which are poorly regulated and often run by unqualified staff.

There is also a culture of giving injections for minor ailments, with patients often demanding jabs because they believe they are better treatments than other medicines.

Zafar Mirza, a former special adviser on health to the prime minister, Imran Khan, said earlier this month: “Medical practitioners have inculcated the wrong belief among people that injections are needed for any minor ailment and that they are more effective.

“Hence the demand for injections is high. The statistics are mind-boggling. The highest number of injections in the world are administered in Pakistan – eight to 10 injections per person per year. Ninety-four per cent of these injections are not needed at all.”

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