Premier Imran says every health facility in Pakistan will be at Nawaz's disposal. PHOTO:EXPRESS/FILE
Speaking out on Twitter, the premier instructed the Punjab government to guarantee that every health facility in the country be made available to the three-time prime minister.
I have asked the Punjab CM to ensure that every health facility in the country is made available for Nawaz Sharif to get the treatment of his choice. The federal govt will assist wherever required. I wish him good health.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 9, 2019
He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo would be given “the treatment of his choice”. He added that the federal government would also assist wherever required in this regard.
Earlier in the day, a mobile medical unit was sent to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail on the orders of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
The decision was taken a day after former prime minister’s daughter Maryam Nawaz made an appeal to the authorities concerned to establish an “immediate resuscitation and lifesaving unit on jail premises” for her ailing father.
Nawaz accuses govt of deliberately impeding his treatment
The Sharif family has been trying to convince the former premier to shift to the hospital for cardiac treatment over the past few weeks but Nawaz is refusing to do so citing the inhumane attitude of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
Meanwhile, incarcerated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif accused the federal government of deliberately impeding his treatment for heart-related ailments, Express News reported.
According to his brother and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, the three-time former prime minister was in high spirits but still requires immediate medical treatment.
“He [Nawaz] says the doctors who examined him earlier said they were only sent to check and verify his health condition. The doctors said they did not have any orders to start his treatment,” Shehbaz told reporters on Saturday.
The National Assembly opposition leader said the government’s failure to address concerns regarding Nawaz’s health was regrettable.
“It is sad to see that the medical treatment of a three-time former prime minister has been made a political issue. This victimisation must end.”
Maryam seeks emergency medical unit in jail as Nawaz’s ‘condition worsens’
Shehbaz’s statements come a day after the Punjab government wrote a letter to Nawaz stating that he was free to pursue treatment at a hospital of his choosing in Lahore.
The letter issued by a section officer of the Punjab Home Department stated: “I am directed to refer to the subject noted above and to state that with reference to earlier medical report of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, you have been examined by two cardiologists namely Dr. Saqib Shafi Sheikh, Professor of Cardiology, KEMU/Mayo Hospital, Lahore, and Dr. Shahid Hameed, Professor of Cardiology of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore who advised admission in hospital/cardiac facility to undergo further investigation including Coronary Angiography/Graft study. Your medication is also optimized in view of your symptoms.”
“I am further directed to refer your meeting with Mr. Majeeb Ur Rehman Shami and Mr. Shahbaz Gill in Central Jail, Lahore and to convey that Government of the Punjab is offering/allowing you to get yourself treated from any government hospital/any private hospital and from physicians/specialists/doctors as per your own choice, under intimation to this department. Your decision in this regard may please be communicated to Home Department, Government of the Punjab as per your convenience and on priority basis.”
Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will visit Nawaz Sharif at Kot Lakhpat Jail on Monday.
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