Shawdesh Desk:

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was admitted to Evercare Hospital in the capital early today after suddenly falling ill.

‘Madame was rushed to the hospital on doctors’ advice,’ said Khaleda’s personal physician, Professor AZM Zahid Hossain.

He said the BNP chief was taken to the hospital by ambulance around 3:05 am.

Later, she was admitted to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) at 3:30 am.

Khaleda last went to Evercare Hospital on May 1 for a health check-up. During the visit, doctors treated her at the CCU for two days.

The former prime minister, aged 79, has long battled various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and issues related to the kidney, lung, heart, and eyes.

Since her conditional release from prison in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving medical care repeatedly at the hospital under the supervision of a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof. Shahabuddin Talukder.

Khaleda’s doctors have been advising to send her abroad since she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November 2021.

On October 26 last year, three US specialist doctors completed a hepatic procedure known as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS procedure) to stop water accumulation in Khaleda’s stomach and chest, and bleeding in her liver.