Nawaz Sharif’s health deteriorates, slips into danger zone

Lahore, Oct 29: The health condition of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has again deteriorated and slipped into the danger zone following a drastic decrease in the blood platelet count, forcing the doctors to stop his heart medication, according to a media report.

According to the new test report on Sunday, the blood platelet count of the 69-year-old Sharif has fallen from 45,000 to 25,000 within a day.

Sharif was rushed to the Services Hospital on Monday night from the anti-graft body's custody after his platelets dropped to a critically low level of 2,000.

The three-time prime minister on Saturday also suffered angina attack while undergoing treatment at a Lahore hospital. Angina is a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart.

Doctors treating the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo have refused to discharge him, citing serious health risk, Geo News reported.

According to the special medical board, the platelet count decreased due to the medicines Sharif was being administered for his cardiac disease following a minor heart attack earlier.

"Although the number of platelets decreased hopefully it will increase as the medical board has stopped administering Heparin medicine to Nawaz," said Mehmood Ayaz, head of the medical board.

"Relatives of Nawaz have expressed satisfaction over his treatment and according to them, his treatment will continue at the Services Hospital. However, if his family wants to shift him from here, the medical board will decide," Ayaz told The Express Tribune.

President of PML-N Shehbaz Sharif said his brother Sharif has shown willingness to be treated abroad.

In the PML-N's core committee meeting, the party leaders expressed concerns regarding Sharif's health condition. Shehbaz told them about the former premier's readiness to go abroad for his medical treatment, ARY News reported.

However, the PML-N president advised party leaders not to talk about the treatment in another country until the court grants relief for it.

The former prime minister also had his request for exemption from appearance, citing ill health so cannot appear submitted to the Islamabad high court (IHC) earlier on Tuesday, ahead of a hearing pertaining to the interim bail granted to him on medical grounds, as well as the petition of disposition of his sentence.

On Saturday, the IHC had accepted and approved Sharif's bail plea in the Al-Azizia corruption case until Tuesday in which he is serving seven-year imprisonment but asked the federal and Punjab governments to provide a concrete answer related to the plea.

A day earlier, he had also secured bail in the money laundering case from the Lahore high court. Bail was granted in both cases on medical grounds.

Sharif was in Kot Lakhpat jail but early this month was sent to the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which is probing the Sharif family in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

On December 24, 2018, an accountability court had sentenced Sharif to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case and acquitted him in the Flagship case.

In a short verdict announced, the court said there was concrete evidence against the former premier in the Al-Azizia case and that he was unable to provide a money trail in the case.