BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s health remains critical, although she is responding to treatment, her personal physician, Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, has said.
There has been no significant deterioration in her health, Dr Zahid, also a member of BNP standing committee, said while addressing the media at the Evercare Hospital entrance on Thursday.
The BNP chairperson was admitted to the Evercare Hospital in Dhaka on 23 November. Tests conducted three days later revealed a lung infection, after which she was moved to the Critical Care Unit on 27 November.
A medical board was formed with local and foreign physicians under the leadership of Professor Shahabuddin Talukder. Specialist doctors from two teams from China and the United Kingdom have joined the medical board. Khaleda’s treatment is being carried out following advice of the board.
Her daughter-in-law and wife of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, Dr Zubaida Rahman, arrived in Dhaka from London on 5 December.
Expressing hope that the BNP chairperson will recover, Dr Zahid said, “We, the doctors involved in her treatment, are very hopeful. Khaleda Zia will gradually recover.”
“Nevertheless, it must be remembered that her illness is more severe due to her age, and her physical complications have increased significantly because she was deliberately pushed into such an ill state in the past, and treatment either could not be provided or was not allowed.”
Dr Zahid said, “BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman are constantly supervising her treatment.
“Among her family members, late Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife Syeda Sharmila Rahman, Khaleda Zia’s brother Shamim Iskander, elder sister Selina Islam, and other family members are constantly keeping track of her condition.”
He added, “Many other patients are under treatment at this hospital. Law enforcement agencies are cooperating so that the treatment of those patients is not disrupted.”
Earlier this year on 7 January, Khaleda Zia went to London for advanced treatment. She first went to a London hospital and then to her son Tarique Rahman’s house. She returned to the country from London on 6 May.
Khaleda Zia, 80, was admitted to Evercare Hospital in Dhaka due to worsening health and severe breathing problems. She has long battled multiple chronic conditions, including arthritis, diabetes, kidney failure requiring dialysis, liver cirrhosis, lung infections, and cardiovascular disease.
