Hundreds of women in Pakistan suffer acid attacks every year. The cost of repairing damaged skin from acid attacks using imported skin is estimated to be around $900 per square inch, according to reports.

In order to make the treatment for acid attack victims more affordable, Jinnah Burn and Reconstructive Surgery Center is developing a new, cost-effective artificial skin. This development can change the lives of hundreds of Pakistani women who become victims of acid attacks every year.

Jinnah Burn & Reconstructive Surgery Center is developing a new, cost effective form of artificial skin that could revolutionize the lives of the hundreds of Pakistani women who fall victim to acid attacks each year.

Dr. Rauf Ahmed, an assistant professor at the center, says his breakthrough came from substituting trypizine — an enzyme used to cultivate artificial skin — with sodium chloride, better known as salt, which is a much cheaper and more widely available substance. He says this innovative technique will cost just $5 dollars per square inch.

This innovation is being tested on 13 people, five men and eight women – six of which were acid attack victims. The rest of these people were affected by burns by a fire. Dr Rauf suggests that the first trial of this testing on humans was in October last year and hopes to finish it by this summer.

The results have proven to be amazing – there were no side effects of the new artificial skin that was tested by him and no bacteria in the skin of the patients being treated by it was found.