ISLAMABAD: Following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directive to the Punjab government to provide Nawaz Sharif access to a doctor and hospital of his choice for treatment, and the incarcerated PML-N leader’s refusal to take up the offer, a “state-of-the-art” mobile medical unit was sent to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail on Saturday on the orders of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
The prime minister, later in the day, reiterated his directives for the Punjab government and wished Sharif “good health”.
The decision to assign the mobile medical unit was notified by the Punjab chief minister’s spokesperson, Dr Shahbaz Gill, during a talk with media at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology.
He said that following Maryam Nawaz’s tweet yesterday evening requesting jail authorities to “establish an immediate resuscitation and life-saving unit on the jail premises”, the chief minister immediately gave orders that very night to take the necessary measures.
Gill said that the mobile unit will remain within the jail premises 24 hours a day and will have three drivers, three cardiologists and three technicians operate in shifts to ensure round-the-clock presence of staff.
The mobile unit comes with a defibrillator, a ventilator, a fusion pump and all other necessary equipment to address cardiac complications.
“For the past few days, there has been a lot of politicking around Nawaz Sharif’s health,” said Gill, adding that there should instead be a focus on his well being.
The spokesperson said that he had personally met Sharif in jail along with two cardiologists and “every kind of offer was made to him”, which Gill said was unprecedented.
“We are not a country with abundant resources,” Gill said, regretting that media and political pressure had been created around the matter.
