Munoo Bhai stable, surgery ruled out

The noted columnist, playwright and intellectual suffered a brain haemorrhage.

LAHORE: Munoo Bhai’s condition is stable and the medical board set up to examine him has not decided to operate on him, said Lahore General Hospital’s (LGH) Post Graduate Medical Institute principal Dr Tariq Salahuddin as he made his way from the National Hospital (NH) after visiting Munoo Bhai. Salahuddin told The Express Tribune that Munoo Bhai had severe swelling in his brain and the left side of his body, including his arm and leg, had been weakened but would recover with the passage of time.

Munoo Bhai, noted columnist, playwright and intellectual, suffered a brain haemorrhage on September 21 and was rushed to the National Hospital in Defence where he was admitted to the ICU. On September 20, Munoo Bhai had been taken to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) because of a heart problem. On PIC doctors’ advice Munoo Bhai was checked into the NH.

Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif telephoned the hospital on September 21 to inquire about Munoo Bhai’s health. The CM directed Health Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad to immediately form a medical board for Munoo Bhai’s treatment. Fawad constituted a board on the same day. Prof Salahuddin is the convener of the Board while PIC chief executive Prof Dr Muhammad Azhar, King Edward Medical University’s Dr Azhar Javed and LGH’s Dr Naveed Ashraf and Dr Umair Rasheed are its other members. The board examined Munoo Bhai on Wednesday and has ruled out an operation. Dr Salahuddin said attacks suffered by Javed Hashmi and Munoo Bhai were of different natures.  Munoo Bhai, he said, was older and a cardiac patient. He said that the swelling would be reduced with medicine.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2010.