PKR has lamented the lack of medical care for its jailed de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was hospitalised again yesterday due to severe back pain.

Anwar was just last month rushed to hospital due to high blood pressure.

In a joint statement, PKR vice-presidents Nurul Izzah Anwar and Tian Chua noted that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had on June 30 last year promised Anwar would get necessary medical care.

"A year had passed but the promise remained just a promise," they said.

They questioned Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's assurance that foreign medical experts would be brought in to treat Anwar, saying that his most basic treatment was inadequate.

"The government often says the number of treatments Anwar received is enough and even considered special compared to other prisoners.

"But the question is, if the number of treatments given failed to improve his health, can they be considered adequate?" they asked.

They said Anwar had previously undergone surgery for his back pain in Germany in 2004.

The duo said the pain was a result of the beating he received from then inspector-general of police Rahim Noor in 1998, shortly before being jailed the first time.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, was jailed in 1999 for abuse of power and sodomy, but the latter charge was overturned and he was subsequently released in 2004.

Anwar was again jailed for sodomy in February last year and is serving five years in Sungai Buloh prison.

He insisted that the convictions were politically motivated.

Anwar's family stressed he needed to undergo surgery overseas and that bringing in foreign medical experts was insufficient as the country did not have the necessary equipment.

PKR said it was still waiting for the government to fulfil its promise on Anwar's medical care.

"Has Zahid lost humanity for Anwar simply because of different political ideologies?

"If not, then at the very least, allow Anwar to be detained in hospital," said the PKR vice-presidents.