Bangladesh Ex-PM Khaleda Zia in critical condition: Medical Board

Bangladesh Ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is in critical condition and needs to be taken abroad urgently for better medical treatment, the medical board formed for her treatment said on Monday.

The medical board at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka has said the Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main opposition party in Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia cannot receive the necessary treatment in Bangladesh and needs to be sent abroad for a liver transplant. She is 78 years old.

Khaleda Zia has been undergoing treatment since 9 August at the Evercare Hospital. The coordinator of the medical board, physician SM Siddique has said her life is in danger.

Siddique said Water has accumulated in her liver and that water is being emitted. Her liver has been infected. She must be taken abroad to overcome this condition.

High doses of antibiotics are not working on her and water from the stomach reaches the heart. For this, she has already been taken to the Critical Care Unit twice, the doctor said.

Khaleda Zia was imprisoned on 8 February 2018 after she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases. The former prime minister was in jail for over two years.

Khaleda Zia was released on 25 March 2020 by the government postponing her conviction on conditions through an executive order.

On 12 September the home minister of Bangladesh issued a notification to suspend Khaleda Zia’s sentence and extend her release by another six months.