BNP chief Khaleda Zia in hospital for tests

The BNP chairperson has been suffering from health complications, including arthritis, diabetes, and kidney and liver diseases for a long time

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 29 April 2023, 07:37 AM
Updated : 29 April 2023, 07:37 AM

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been taken to Evercare Hospital in Dhaka for medical tests at the advice of her doctors.

Khaleda arrived at the hospital in Bashundhara Residential Area from her home in Gulshan on Saturday evening. She will undergo a routine check-up, said her physician Professor AZM Zahid Hossain.

The 77-year-old former prime minister has been suffering from a range of health complications, including arthritis, diabetes, and kidney and liver diseases for a long time.

She receives treatment at her Gulshan home under the supervision of a team of doctors. A medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder of Evercare Hospital also monitors her treatment. Khaleda last visited the hospital for tests on Feb 27.

The BNP chief was sentenced to jail in two graft cases in 2017. The septuagenarian had served her sentence at the old central jail of Dhaka until the government decided to suspend her jail time on medical grounds amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Khaleda was released from prison on Mar 25, 2020 by executive order and the government has already conditionally extended her time out of jail on several occasions, most recently in March.

Her party and family demand that she be allowed to travel abroad for treatment but the government has not granted her permission to leave Bangladesh.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir reiterated the demand earlier on Saturday. “I have repeatedly said that she is very sick. She needs proper treatment – the treatment she can only receive at advanced medical centres abroad. But the government is not allowing it, so we are providing it at home as best as we can.”