Pak's ailing former PM Nawaz Sharif to travel to London for treatment: Report

Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has battling several health issues, has been given permission by Imran Khan government to travel to London for treatment.

Geo News cited sources said that Sharif's air ticket has been confirmed, adding that he would fly to London on November 11. The sources also stated that he would return back to Pakistan on November 27.

Pakistani media reports say that he is likely to go to London with his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Pakistan Prime Minister's special assistant, Naeem ul Haque, told the media that the decision has been taken by the government on account of Sharif's deteriorating health.

"It is the right of every Pakistani to have themselves treated as they see fit," ANI quoted him as saying.

He also said that it is incumbent upon the Supreme Court of Pakistan to decide the duration of his visit abroad, and the number of visits he could make outside of the country for medical treatment.

Sharif was shifted to the Services Hospital in Lahore on October 22 after his blood platelets dropped to a critically low level.The former Pak PM was diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia - a condition where the patient suffers from the aforementioned low blood platelet count. He has been on medical treatment and according to media reports, doctors said that his condition has been frequenting between critical and normal after they administered platelet injections on intervals.

On October 25, the Lahore High Court granted bail to Nawaz Sharif in the Chaudhary Sugar Mills case on medical grounds. In another case, Nawaz Sharif was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court on similar grounds, suspending his seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case.