Medical board examines Sharif after reports of health related complications

A medical board was examining jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif today to decide about shifting him to a hospital after the Pakistani media reported that he is on the verge of a kidney failure.

Sharif, 68, and his daughter Maryam, 44, are serving jail terms of 10 years and 7 years respectively in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, after an accountability court convicted them on July 6 over the family's ownership of four luxury flats in London.

A four-member medical board was examining Sharif in jail to decide about shifting him to the hospital following health related complications, sources said.

The team comprising cardiologist Dr Naeem Malik, Medical Specialist Dr. Shaji Siddiqui, neurologist Dr Sohail Tanvir and Dr Mashood visited him in jail to carry out a detailed check-up.

Sharif has multiple health issues like heart problems, hypertension and diabetes. He already underwent open heart surgery in London in 2016.

Earlier, a team of doctors from Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC), headed by its Chief Executive Major General (retd) Dr Azhar Mehmood Kayani, visited the prison and compiled a report after carrying out a detailed medical check-up.

The findings in the report suggest that Sharif be shifted to a hospital immediately, The Express Tribune reported.

Sharif had complained about his health on Saturday.

Although his personal physician Dr Adnan had seen him twice in recent days, the jail administration called doctors from RIC to be sure of what had happened. The team spent about one-and-a-half hour inspecting his condition.

According to the medical team, his body's water levels are very low, which has made his heartbeat erratic now. The amount of urea in his blood has also become very high, which could even lead to kidney failure, the report said.

The board's findings suggested that Sharif be shifted to hospital immediately, it added.

The Punjab Prisons sources told Daily Express that they are waiting for the Punjab home department's orders about shifting Sharif to the hospital.

Caretaker provincial ministers Shaukat Javed and Ahmed Waqas Riaz said the jail superintendent has been informed in writing about Sharif's health issues and the home department has formed a medical board which will perform another checkup today to decide on whether to shift him to a hospital, the report said.

They confirmed that Sharif's medical tests suggested he had kidney issues. The caretaker government is in touch with jail authorities and Sharif is getting better medical facilities, they added.

Meanwhile, Barrister Zafrullah Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has filed a petition with the Supreme Court to declare residences of Sharif and his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar as sub-jails.