–Punjab CM’s spokesperson says govt never stopped Sharif family from meeting Nawaz
LAHORE: The special board examining Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif has issued a medical report stating recommendations regarding the former prime minister’s treatment.
In the report released on January 23, the panel advised continuing Nawaz’s previous treatment and ensuring risk factor modification. The board further recommended that a larger special medical board is constituted to plan the future course of treatment.
“The larger board should comprise senior cardiologists, including clinical electro-physiologists from the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) and Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) Lahore,” the report said.
‘GOVT NEVER STOPPED SHARIF FAMILY’:
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister’s Spokesman Dr Shahbaz Gill on Thursday said that the Sharif family has never been stopped by the Punjab government from meeting Nawaz Sharif.
In a tweet, he said that Sharif family can meet him anytime during the jail timings. He also said that Nawaz is being medically treated according to the recommendations of a board of doctors and his personal physician. Referring to Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, he said that a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader issues concocted and fabricated statements for political sympathies and is spreading fake news through media that Nawaz is not being given proper medical aid and he is not in contact with his family. “The reality is that no one in the Sharif family has ever been stopped from meeting him and they can meet him whenever they desire. Meetings are held on Thursday at 9:00 am and meetings are also held on days when he desires,” he said.
“They should contact us if they have any trouble and their meeting could be arranged,” he added. He said that the jail doctor examines Nawaz Sharif daily and his personal physician has also recommended certain medical tests after a checkup. On the basis of it, a PIC board has visited the jail and recommended some medical tests after examining him, after which, he was brought to PIC yesterday for a medical checkup, he added.
The provincial government spokesperson further said that the PIC board has recommended constituting a larger board, including PIMS doctors, for examining Nawaz. “Along with it, the board has proposed food without salt and with low protein and this was immediately implemented upon,” he said. “Similarly, the process of constituting a larger board has also been started,” he added.
Dr Shahbaz Gill said that it is his request that fake stories like this should not be spread. “This is nothing except blackmailing and an attempt to benefit from illness. I would request that this should not be done as different departments are to be engaged for it and the time which should be spent on public service is spent on such things. Sharif family could meet him whenever they desire during jail timings and he has been given every sort of medical facility in the jail,” he concluded.
On January 22, the former prime minister had been shifted to the PIC amid strict security.
In a tweet on Monday, daughter of the former premier Maryam Nawaz said that her father, who remains incarcerated at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, was unwell but the family was uninformed about his medical condition.