The medical board formed for the treatment of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at Evercare Hospital will hold a press conference on Monday to inform the public of her health condition.
The press conference will be held at 9 am on the 11th floor of the hospital, said the BNP chief’s personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain on Sunday.
“Madam’s (Khaleda’s) condition is not good. The medical board will talk about her health condition tomorrow (Monday),” he said.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, the 79-year-old former Prime Minister, has been undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka under the supervision of a 15-member medical board, led by specialist doctor Professor Shahabuddin Talukder, since August 9.
She has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.
A medical board member, wishing anonymity, said they have already asked Khaleda’s family members and the BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir that a liver transplant at an advanced center abroad is necessary to save her life.
He said the BNP chief’s heart and kidney problems are getting complicated due to liver cirrhosis. “Her condition is gradually deteriorating and it will be difficult to save her life without an immediate liver transplant.”
On September 5, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's brother Shamim Iskandar submitted an application to the government, seeking her unconditional release and permission to take her abroad for her treatment at an "advanced medical center" on an urgent basis to save her life.
However, the Law Ministry denied her permission to go abroad for better treatment, suggesting that she must first return to jail and then apply to the court to get permission in this regard.
On September 5, Khaleda's brother Shamim Iskandar submitted an application to the government, seeking her unconditional release and permission to take her abroad for her treatment at an "advanced medical center" on an urgent basis to save her life.
In response, Law Minister Anisul Huq said there is no chance to open the petition, which has already been disposed of as per Section 401 of the CrPC. “We gave the opinion that the petition disposed under Section 401 is a past and closed transaction. There is no other scope to open it," he said.
However, some legal experts and pro-BNP lawyers think the government can still let her go overseas for treatment using its discretionary power.
On October 3, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the incumbent ‘cowardly’ government wants to kill Khaleda Zia without allowing her to receive treatment abroad.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order by suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she would stay at her Gulshan house and would not leave the country. Later, the government extended the suspension of Khaleda’s sentence eight times.