Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Friday that incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan would be taken to a hospital twice in the coming days and that he had to be administered an injection on February 25.
The ex-prime minister’s health has been garnering attention in recent days, with his family and party raising concerns since his eye ailment — right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) — came to light in late January.
Meanwhile, the government and the opposition have also been engaged in a blame game, with the latter accusing the former of a lack of transparency on the matter, not ensuring appropriate treatment for Imran and not allowing his personal physicians to access him. The government denies these allegations.
The matter was raised again during ARY News programme ‘Sawal Yeh Hai’, where Chaudhry was asked what was the obstacle in the way of Imran’s personal physicians gaining access to him.
In his response, Chaudhry said: “Our top priority is to provide him the best treatment facilities. We previously took him to Pims as well, but in secrecy due to his security.”
He added that Imran was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad on the advice of doctors who had examined the former prime minister in jail and suggested that he should be treated at a tertiary care hospital.
“We have to again take him to the hospital twice,” Chaudhry said, assuring that he would be provided the best possible medical facilities.
He added that the government had invited the PTI leadership to be present during an examination of Imran at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where he is imprisoned, on February 15.
“But they could not decide which leadership to send,” he said, indicating a divide within the PTI. The minister also claimed that PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan’s name was proposed for the visit, but “objections were raised”.
“So they can decide. Imran Khan sahib has to be administered an injection on February 25. If they want to come, they are most welcome. There is no secrecy,” he added.
He also assured that since Imran was in jail at present, the responsibility of his health and treatment lay with the government and the state. “And realising this, we are providing him the best possible facilities.”
The minister again insisted that the government had invited Barrister Gohar in connection with Imran’s treatment and examination and claimed that his “party did not allow him to go”.
He reasserted that a member of Imran’s family, Barrister Gohar and Imran’s personal physician had been invited during his last examination.
“We will try to invite them this time as well during his treatment, but first, they need to decide who will come. Because we waited for around one and a half to two hours, but they did not come,” he added.
Asked if a request was made for Imran’s personal physicians Dr Faisal Sultan and Dr Aasim Yusuf to be allowed access to him on February 25, would it be accepted, Chaudhry replied that the PTI had been insisting on allowing access to Dr Sultan, but he was not an ophthalmologist.
On January 24, it was revealed that the PTI founder had undergone a 20-minute medical procedure for his eye ailment at Pims, resulting in concerns being raised by the opposition and Imran’s family, who continue to face restrictions on meetings with the incarcerated former premier.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court’s intervention on February 10 allowed PTI lawyer Salman Safdar to meet Imran, with the ex-premier telling the counsel he had “15 per cent” vision left in his right eye.
A report prepared by a medical board formed by the government that visited Imran on February 15 at the Adiala jail stated that, unaided, the ex-premier’s right eye had 6/24 partial vision and 6/9 in the left. It said that with glasses, the ex-premier’s vision was 6/9 partial in the right and 6/6 in the left.
The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), which had staged a six-day sit-in at Parliament House over Imran’s health, also doubled down on its earlier demands on Friday.
These included Imran’s “complete and confidential access” to his personal physicians Dr Yusuf and Dr Sultan and copies of his medical tests and diagnostic reports.
Dr Yusuf and Dr Sultan have previously said multiple times that the ex-premier needed a comprehensive medical check-up that could be provided at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
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