The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday asked the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of illegal hike in the price of tetanus medicine by a local pharmaceutical company.

The immoral upward revision in the price of medicine by an Islamabad based company with the help of officials concerned of health ministry amounts to exploitation of masses, it said.

The approved price of tetanus injection was Rs 42 which was recently revised upward to Rs 62 without getting approval of the regulator, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

The move will add Rs430 million annually to the profit of the company which is selling two million injections per month in the country, he added.

He said that courts have been moved against the price hike while a case is pending in the consumer court of Islamabad but progress is slow due to lack of interest of Health department that has been trying to delay the matter as long as they can.

Talking to President of the Health Watch Mian Aftab, he said that another company is also selling the medicine for the same illness at Rs8 which has been approved by the World Health Organisation.