The medical board at Evercare Hospital on Monday recommended that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia be urgently sent to a multidisciplinary centre abroad soon as there are now no treatment options available for her in Bangladesh.
Speaking at a press conference at the hospital, the board also said the 78-year-old former prime minister’s life is at risk because of a lack of proper treatment to stop water accretion in her stomach and chest, internal bleeding and infections caused by her liver cirrhosis problem.
“Begum Khaleda Zia has been admitted here for the fourth time…her condition is complicated,” the chief of the medical board, Dr Shahabuddin Talukder, said.
He said a critical patient like Khaleda could collapse suddenly as she has been suffering from various diseases.
“Madam (Khaleda) has heart disease with a stent (placed into a coronary artery) and two blockages. So, there’s a chance of collapsing when the fluid is removed (from her stomach and lungs). She had to be taken to the CCU to get the water out. This is the reality,” he said.
Dr FM Siddique, a member of the medical board, said the BNP chairperson is not getting the treatment she needs at the moment for liver cirrhosis.
He said, “We’ve done all that we can. She needs to be taken to any advanced centre abroad for necessary treatment.”
Siddique said the opposition BNP chief’s condition is gradually worsening because of a lack of “proper treatment.”
He said Khaleda is now facing water accretion in her stomach and chest, infections, and a small amount of bleeding in her stomach.
“This time she was given four bags of blood in the hospital. The actual situation is very complex and difficult. We have now reached a situation where we have no more option to treat her (in the country),” the physician said.
He lamented that a curable disease cannot be treated in the country due to the lack of an advanced medical centre in Bangladesh.
Siddique said though Khaleda’s condition is slowly getting worse, the time is not over yet to treat her abroad.
“As per the medical board’s unanimous decision, I want to convey to all concerned that there’s still time to treat her with the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) and also to transplant her liver at any advanced multidisciplinary centre abroad. Perhaps, we still have this option to improve her condition,” the doctor said.
He said TIPS is necessary immediately to stop water from accumulating in her stomach and chest and internal bleeding. “TIPS is a live savings procedure which is not available in Bangladesh. Liver transplantation is also not possible in Bangladesh either."
Another medical board member Professor AKM Mohsin said liver transplantation cannot be done in Bangladesh for lack of required setup, equipment, and manpower.
“One or two livers were transplanted here (Bangladesh) on an experimental basis. But we don't have the setup and required manpower for liver transplantation here. We don't have such surgery here," he said.
Mentioning that Khaleda Zia's condition is critical, Prof Mohsin said there is no setup in Bangladesh for her treatment with TRIPS and for her liver transplantation.
Professor Nuruddin Ahmed, another medical board member said the BNP chief has been suffering from many diseases, including liver cirrhosis. “Liver cirrhosis causes many serious complications such as abdominal bleeding and water accretion in her stomach and chest.”
He said infection caused by ascites is also a serious complication that put Khaleda’s life at risk.
Ahmed voiced concern that high doses of antibiotics are not working on Khaleda due to their frequent use. "In his critical condition, we are not allowing her to be taken home as carious complications and infections are appearing.”
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka under the supervision of a 15-member medical board, led by a 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.
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 treatment at an “advanced medical centre” on an urgent basis to save her life.
However, the law ministry denied permission to take her abroad for better treatment, suggesting that she must first return to jail to serve her graft sentence and then apply to the court to get permission in this regard.
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.
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 tenure of suspension of Khaleda’s sentence for the eighth time.
