Khaleda to be directly admitted to London medical centre on arrival

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will be directly admitted to 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 Ambulance from the Amir 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 advanced medical centre in London, where doctors will assess her health condition and determine her 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 the country to pray for Khaleda’s swift recovery, so that she can return to Bangladesh as soon as possible.

Earlier on Sunday night, Mirza Fakhrul formally announced than 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 7 January (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 5 August, she was fully freed under executive order, paving the way for her abroad treatment.

Khaleda Zia, 79, 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 6 August 2023, Khaleda Zia was fully freed by an order from President Mohammed Shahabuddin.