Pakistan: Larger special medical board constituted to assess Nawaz Sharif's helath

Pakistan's Punjab government Friday constituted a "larger special medical board" to evaluate jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's condition after doctors suggested that he has cardiac complications and should be shifted to hospital.

The lager special medical board comprises six doctors from different hospitals.

"On the recommendations of the medical board of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology Lahore (PIC) for evaluation of the health condition Nawaz Sharif, a larger special medical board comprising six senior doctors of different hospitals is constituted," a notification of the Punjab Government Home Department said.     

The new medical board comprises Hamid Sharif Khan and Muhammad Talha Bin Nazir from Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, Shahid Hameed and Sajjad Ahmad of PIC and Brigadier Abdul Hameed Siddique and Azmat Hayat of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology and National Institute of Heart Diseases, Rawalpindi.

The Punjab government said the board will submit the report to the Home Department. 

A four-member (second) special medical board of the Allama Iqbal Medical College/Jinnah Hospital Lahore examined Sharif, 69, in jail recently and recommended that for his "optimal treatment" he should be shifted to hospital.

Three-time prime minister, who is serving a seven-year imprisonment in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail, was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after he complained of heart related complications. He was later discharged from the hospital and taken back to jail following the medical tests.

"The government decided to form a 'larger special medical board' in view of a previous medical board's report that Nawaz Sharif is not completely well and he should be shifted to hospital from jail to get optimal treatment for his heart complications," a senior official of Punjab government told PTI on Friday. 

Meanwhile, Sharif's party, PML-N, has warned Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government that if anything happened to their leader for constantly ignoring his health issues the masses would be on roads. 

On Tuesday, Sharif was taken to the PIC for examination. Doctors there suggested that he required "aggressive medication" and "regular medical follow-ups" to avoid cardiac complications.

Before the AIMC board, a special PIC medical board had also examined Sharif last week and said he had vague symptoms of pain in both arms, particularly at night and numbness of toes. 

Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz and his cardiologist Adnan Khan have demanded the PTI government shift him to hospital for better medical care. 

"Reports show his (Sharif) disease has progressed and is life-threatening. Official reports from PIC still awaited. Have been running pillar to post but to no avail," Maryam tweeted.