Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia continues to require frequent visits to hospital to maintain her health, according to her personal physician and BNP standing committee member A Z M Zahid.
Speaking to journalists in front of the BNP chief’s Gulshan residence shortly after midnight on Thursday, Zahid said that Khaleda Zia was deprived of necessary medical care during the tenure of the previous government, which left long-term effects on her health.
“As a result, she now has to visit Evercare Hospital regularly, simply to remain stable,” he said. He added that her mental condition is stable and that she has sought prayers from the nation.
Earlier that night, the former prime minister had been taken to Evercare Hospital for routine check-ups and was later brought back home. Zahid said her medical examinations and treatment are being conducted in line with the advice of the medical board.
Highlighting her deteriorating health since her imprisonment in 2018, Zahid remarked, “She went to jail in 2018 on her feet, but when she was released under house arrest in 2020, she came back in a wheelchair. The previous government pushed her health to a life-threatening stage.”
He further recalled that in 2023, a team of physicians from Johns Hopkins University came to Dhaka to examine her under the supervision of BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, followed by treatment abroad. “Later, we took her to London for further care,” he said.
Before her hospital visit on Thursday night, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and several senior leaders gathered at her residence.
Khaleda Zia last underwent routine check-ups at Evercare Hospital on 18 June this year, and on 18 September last year. On 7 January this year, she travelled to London by air ambulance for advanced medical care. She was admitted directly to the London Clinic from Heathrow Airport.
After 17 days in the clinic, she continued treatment at her son Tarique Rahman’s residence. Following a 117-day stay in London, she returned to Dhaka on 6 May.