BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will be directly admitted to The London Clinic, an advanced medical centre in London, after arriving at Heathrow International Airport in the UK, her physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he said a special Royal Air Ambulance from the Emir of Qatar will arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 7:30 pm today to transport Khaleda to London.

Zahid, also a BNP standing committee member, said Khaleda, along with her entourage—including six doctors from her medical team and four doctors from the air ambulance—will depart Hazrat Shahjalal Airport at 10pm on Tuesday for London via Doha.

He said BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, his wife, and BNP leaders from the UK chapter will welcome Khaleda upon her arrival at Heathrow Airport.

Zahid said the BNP chief will be taken directly from the airport to The London Clinic, where doctors will assess her health and determine her next course of treatment.

Dr Zahid said all formalities have been completed to ensure the BNP chief’s travel to the UK. “There is an old reputable hospital called 'The London Clinic', which is under the NHS... She (Khaleda) will be admitted there. She’ll be taken there directly from Heathrow Airport,” the physician said.

He said the 79-year-old three-time former prime minister will remain under care at the hospital.

The BNP leader said Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has arranged for a special air ambulance from the royal fleet after learning of Khaleda’s illness. “The special air ambulance will carry four Royal Qatari doctors and paramedics.”

Besides, six members of Khaleda Zia's medical board—Prof Shahabuddin Talukdar, Prof FM Siddique, Prof Naruddin Ahmed, Dr Zafar Iqbal, Prof AZM Zahid Hossain and Dr Mohammad Al Mamun—will accompany her.

Khaleda’s entourage will also include her daughter-in-law, Syeda Sharmila Rahman, wife of her late son Arafat Rahman Koko, advisory council member Enamul Haque Chowdhury, executive committee member Tabith Awal, private secretary ABM Abdus Sattar, and other personal staff and employees.

Zahid said the BNP chief would be taken directly from the airport to an advanced medical centre in London, where doctors will assess her health and determine the next course of treatment.

On behalf of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, he called upon the people of Bangladesh to pray for Khaleda’s swift recovery, so that she can return home as soon as possible.

Zahid said Khaleda has been suffering from various physical complications, including compensated liver cirrhosis (Grade 2), for which she previously underwent the TIPS procedure.

“There’re some technical aspects of the TIPS, including the adjustments. We could not check it, and we have not been able to determine if the stenting set up in her heart is functioning properly... there are several blockages in her heart,” he said.

The BNP leader also said Khaleda had earlier undergone angioplasty with stenting, but it is also necessary to address her other blockages.

Besides, he said, the BNP chief suffers from chronic kidney disease and some post-Covid complications. “So, she requires a thorough check-up.”

When asked whether the former prime minister would consider a liver transplant, Dr Zahid said the liver transplant unit at The London Clinic would decide this considering her age and physical condition.

“You must remember we are dealing with a patient who has multiple conditions. This is why we are moving her to The London Clinic, which is a multidisciplinary advanced centre. The doctors there will review her condition and then determine the next course of her treatment,” he said.

In response to another question about Khaleda’s treatment in the United States, Zahid said she may be taken to Johns Hopkins University Hospital if only recommended by the doctors at The London Clinic.

When asked whether the BNP chief would travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, he said she would definitely do so on her way back home, provided her health allows. “However, it is not pre-decided.”

Earlier on Sunday night, Mirza Fakhrul formally announced that their party chief will travel to London on Tuesday night for advanced medical treatment.

“We, all members of the Standing Committee, have come here to bid farewell to our leader (Khaleda) as she embarks on her journey to London on the night of January 7 (Tuesday),” he said while speaking to reporters after a meeting of the BNP Standing Committee with Khaleda at her residence in Gulshan.

Tarique Rahman and his family have been living in London since 2008. This will be Khaleda Zia’s second overseas medical trip, following her 2017 visit to London for treatment.

This will be her first reunion with her son Tarique in seven years, and her first overseas visit since she was freed from jail.

Despite her declining health, the Awami League government repeatedly denied her permission to travel abroad for treatment.

Following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, she was fully freed under executive order, paving the way for her abroad treatment.

Khaleda Zia has been battling multiple health issues, including liver cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis, and complications involving her kidneys, lungs, heart, and eyes.

Her doctors have been advocating for her overseas treatment since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in late 2021.

Last year, on October 26, a team of three specialist doctors from the United States performed the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure to address fluid accumulation in her stomach and chest, as well as liver bleeding.

In March 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government temporarily released her on an executive order, suspending her sentence on the condition that she remain at her Gulshan residence and not leave the country.

On August 6, 2023, Khaleda Zia was fully freed by an order from President Mohammed Shahabuddin.