Nawaz Sharif platelet count critically low, hospitalised in Lahore

Lahore, Oct 22: Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in the custody of the country's anti-graft body Lahore, was hospitalised on Monday night after his health condition deteriorated. The three-time prime minister's platelet count was critically low and doctors advised immediate hospitalisation.

"Former PM Nawaz Sharif is detected to have critically low Platelet Count (16*10@9/L) that could be due to multiple pathologies and requires immediate in-hospital care," Sharif's personal physician Dr Adnan Khan said in a tweet on Monday.

He said: "I have requested the authorities concerned to act in urgency." Dr Khan said he met Sharif, 69, at the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) cell in Lahore and found him visibly unwell. "He has multiple serious life-threatening health issues of acute nature. The matter is of utmost urgency and he should be hospitalised," he said.

A NAB spokesman said Sharif has been shifted to the Services Hospital where he is being treated by a team of doctors. "Sharif is likely to stay in hospital on Monday night," he said.

PML-N president and Nawaz Sharif's brother Shahbaz Sharif alleged that despite the worsening health of his older brother, he was not shifted to hospital earlier. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan will be responsible if anything happens to Nawaz Sharif.

Doctors said the former prime minister required aggressive medication and "regular medical follow-ups" to avoid health complications. Sharif is serving a seven-year sentence in the Al Azizia Mills corruption case.