ISLAMABAD, July 29: The medical professionals have asked the health ministry not to increase the prices of medicines in the larger public interest.

Dr Ahmad Saeed Awan, Dr Syed Hakeem Shah, Dr Shahid Raza and Dr M Amjad Obaid, in a joint letter to the director-general Health, Maj Gen Mohammad Aslam, had expressed their apprehension that deregulation or further increase in the prices of medicines, which were especially used for the treatment of cancer, would put a huge financial burden on the patients.