Minister: Sharif should return after treatment

multan — Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Wednesday said the government wished former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to return to the country as early as possible once his health recovers.

Talking to media at Nishtar Medical University, she said that reports submitted earlier seeking extension in Sharif ’s stay abroad for medical treatment had no grounds.

The provincial health minister said that court had granted bail to Sharif on compassionate grounds. She said she phoned Sharif ’s personal physician, Dr Adnan, and asked him to submit new reports. Dr Adnan has promised to send fresh reports soon, she added.

The reports, Dr Yasmin said, would be submitted to Pakistan’s High commission in the United Kingdom which would dispatch it to the Punjab Home Department.

Speaking about health schemes being launched in Punjab, she said unlike previous governments, the PTI government was executing 118 health projects, adding that work on these projects was underway.

Dr Yasmin said the Punjab health department had created 26,000 jobs so far while another 10,000 were in the pipeline.

The provincial minister said that work on phase-II of the Nishtar medical complex had commenced as Rs9.2 billion would be spent on the mega project for south Punjab.

Dr Yasmin said that 70,000 health cards had been disbursed among special persons while 30,000 cards would be distributed among children suffering from thalassemia.

Responding to a question, the provincial minister said that out of nine new hospitals, work on three hospitals had begun while consultations and paperwork for three hospitals had been completed. — APP