A four-member specialist medical team from the UK reached Bangladesh on Wednesday to support the treatment of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who remains in a critical condition at a private hospital in Dhaka.
The group, led by Dr Richard Buell, went straight to Evercare Hospital after landing and reviewed the 80-year-old BNP chairperson’s condition, tbsnews.net reported.
Hospital sources said the UK doctors held an initial discussion with local physicians involved in her treatment. BNP media cell member Shayrul Kabir Khan told state-run BSS news agency that Buell arrived in Dhaka in the morning.
Khan added he hoped the involvement of foreign specialists would help “mark significant progress” in Zia’s ongoing care.
According to Pratidin, Buell is a professor of intensive care medicine at King’s College London and a consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
The UK doctors are expected to help finalise an advanced treatment plan with Bangladeshi specialists.
A second team of Chinese experts is scheduled to land later in the day. Another Chinese group joined the medical board on Monday. The board is headed by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
Zia’s personal physician and BNP Standing Committee member Dr AZM Zahid told reporters on Tuesday that she is “maintaining the treatment” despite her critical state. He repeated that there is currently no scope to move her abroad.
The interim government has said India, China, the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have also extended medical assistance.
Zia was admitted to Evercare Hospital on November 23 after being diagnosed with infections affecting her heart and lungs. She was shifted to the coronary care unit four days later as her condition worsened.
On Sunday night, she was placed on ventilation, BNP Vice-Chairman Advocate Ahmed Aazam Khan said.
Security at the hospital has been tightened after the interim government on Monday declared her a “very, very important person”, triggering deployment of the Special Security Force.
She is in a fourth-floor cabin, with surrounding cabins vacated for security.
Across Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Barishal, Sylhet and Mymensingh, BNP units and supporters are holding prayers for her recovery. Many have also posted messages on social media wishing her well.
In an unusual public development, the chiefs of Bangladesh’s three armed services visited the ailing former prime minister at Evercare Hospital on Tuesday, the military’s media wing announced.
Army chief general Waker-Uz-Zaman, navy chief admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan and Air force chief marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan went to the hospital around 9 pm, bdnews24.com reported. They stayed briefly and left shortly after 9:20 pm.
Quoting Shairul Kabir Khan, BSS reported that the service chiefs spoke to Zia’s family members and the medical team and offered prayers for her recovery. Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman also visited her later that night.
BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters Monday night that Zia’s son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman “will return to Bangladesh soon”.
His comments followed a meeting of the party’s standing committee, which discussed the current political situation ahead of the election cycle.
Rahman has been in London since 2008. BNP leaders say he is waiting for a new Bangladeshi passport and is unwilling to use a one-time travel pass offered by the interim government.
At a press conference on Monday, Election Commission senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed said Rahman is not registered as a voter in Bangladesh but may do so if the EC permits it.
BNP’s political prominence has grown since the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina was toppled on August 5, 2024 following a student-led protest movement.