Dhaka, Dec 4:
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is scheduled to be flown to London on Friday for advanced medical treatment, her personal physician and BNP Standing Committee member AZM Zahid Hossain confirmed on Thursday.
Speaking to the media outside Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, Dr. Zahid said a medical board consisting of both local and international specialists had unanimously recommended sending the 80-year-old leader abroad for treatment. “She will be flown to London by a Qatar Royal air ambulance. We have already selected a hospital there for her continued medical care,” Zahid was quoted as saying by local outlet UNB.
Several specialist doctors—including two foreign physicians—will accompany Khaleda Zia during the journey to ensure continuous supervision of her fragile health condition. Zahid added that the medical team has been following all recommended procedures and that transporting her to London at this stage was considered the most appropriate and necessary step. “We hope she will recover and return to us,” he noted.
Earlier this week, Dr. Zahid reported that Khaleda Zia had been responding positively to treatment provided by a medical board comprising experts from within Bangladesh and abroad. BNP leaders also remain hopeful, expressing confidence in her eventual recovery.
Last week, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir described her health condition as “very critical” and urged the nation to pray for her.
Khaleda Zia has long suffered from multiple chronic ailments, including cardiac complications, diabetes, arthritis, liver cirrhosis, and kidney problems. She has been under intensive monitoring in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) of Evercare Hospital, with a team of specialists overseeing her treatment.
She was admitted to the hospital late on November 23 following infections in her heart and lungs. As her condition deteriorated, she was shifted to the CCU on November 27, prompting renewed calls from family and party leaders for advanced treatment abroad.
