Chinese medics join UK specialists to aid treatment of Bangladesh's ailing ex-PM Zia

Dhaka, Dec 4 (PTI) A four-member Chinese medical team has arrived in Bangladesh, joining a UK specialist group, to assist in the treatment of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who remains in a critical condition in a private hospital here.

The delegation, comprising doctors Chi Jiang Fang, Yan Xin, Zhong Yuhui, and Meng Huang Wu, arrived at Evercare Hospital late on Wednesday night and met with the medical board to review treatment options for the 80-year-old chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the state-run BSS news agency reported.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met the specialists upon their arrival and discussed Zia's treatment with them, according to news portal bdnews24.com.

The Chinese doctors joined a four-member UK specialist group led by Dr Richard Buell that had arrived earlier in the day to help chart an advanced treatment plan.

The team's arrival marked the second batch of Chinese doctors, who had arrived earlier this week. A five-member advance team from China had arrived in Dhaka on December 1 to provide preliminary assistance.

The foreign experts would determine whether the former premier can be moved abroad for further treatment, The Daily Star newspaper reported, quoting medical board sources.

Zia's personal physician and BNP standing committee member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said specialists from Johns Hopkins University in the US and the London Clinic in the UK are also being consulted virtually.

Hossain told reporters on Tuesday that Zia is “maintaining the treatment” being administered despite her critical state. He, however, reiterated that there was no scope to take the former premier abroad at this stage.

The three-time prime minister was admitted to the private hospital on November 23 after being diagnosed with infections affecting her heart and lungs.

She was moved to the coronary care unit four days later as her complications worsened.

Her condition deteriorated further, and she was placed on ventilation on Sunday night, BNP Vice-Chairman Advocate Ahmed Aazam Khan had said.

Meanwhile, supporters and organisations across Bangladesh, including in Dhaka and districts such as Jhenaidah, Sunamganj, Bagerhat, Cumilla, Chuadanga and Munshiganj, held prayer gatherings seeking Zia's recovery. PTI SCY SCY