Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif contacted President Asif Ali Zardari and enquired about his health on Tuesday following media reports about the latter’s hospitalisation.

While there was no official word from the presidency or the PPP regarding its co-chairperson’s health, media outlets earlier today reported, quoting sources, that President Zardari had been hospitalised in Karachi after being brought over from Nawabshah.

When reached out for a comment, a source close to the party told Dawn.com that he was “undergoing some tests and would be discharged soon”.

A statement from the Press Information Department issued today said PM Shehbaz contacted the president and enquired about his well-being, offering prayers for Zardari’s early recovery.

“May God grant you complete health soon. The prayers of the entire nation are with you,” the statement quoted the premier as saying.

Meanwhile, a statement from the office of Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori said he called the president’s physician Dr Asim Hussain and asked about Zardari’s health while expressing his well wishes.

The president had fractured his foot while deboarding an airplane in October 2024. Following the fall, he was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment. After a check-up, the doctor placed his foot in a cast.

At 69 years of age, the president has had multiple health issues in recent years.

In March 2023, he underwent eye surgery in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2022, he was admitted to Karachi’s Dr Ziauddin Hospital for one week for treatment of a chest infection. Amid rumours of ill health, his personal physician and close aide Dr Asim took to social media platform X to confirm that he “is in good health”.

He tested positive for Covid-19 in July 2022 but only experienced “mild symptoms”, according to his son and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

A year prior to that, Zardari was admitted to a private hospital in Karachi due to “exertion and exhaustion” caused by his frequent travelling.