LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid says former prime minister Nawaz Sharif must come back to the country if he is well.

She said the PML-N leader had gone abroad claiming he needed cardiac treatment, which he had not done so far.

The minister said Nawaz had not sought treatment for nine months, which meant his health was okay. The impact of treatment on Nawaz started coming after eight weeks when he was sick and he got better as soon as he reached London, she said and added that Nawaz would have been hospitalised if he was not well.

Ms Rashid was talking to the media at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) after inaugurating a new girls’ hostel and a zoo in connection with the World Mental Health Day on Saturday.

A seminar in connection with the mental health day was also organised where the minister was the chief guest.

Addressing the participants in a ceremony organised, she said a 25-room hostel for the female staff of the institute had been constructed at a cost of Rs45m.

“The World Mental Health Day reminds us to renew our pledge to take care of people facing mental illnesses and I will appreciate efforts by PIMH Executive Director Dr Muhammad Ashraf and Services Institute of Medical Sciences Principal Dr Mehmud Ayaz in providing these new facilities for the staffers,” Dr Rashid said.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2020