The prison authorities are not aware of BNP chief Khaleda Zia suffering from a mild stroke, says Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
His remarks, while speaking to the media on Saturday, came after the claims made by the former prime minister’s personal physicians, who examined her in prison earlier in the day
“Khaleda Zia’s personal doctors claimed she suffered a mild stroke, but the jail authorities are not aware of any such thing,” said Kamal.
He said the government will take all necessary measures for Khaleda’s medical treatment.
“The decision on where she will be taken will be made after the diagnosis reports are available. However, we as well as the prison authorities consider the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital as the best option,” said the minister after attending an iftar party of the prison authorities.
Earlier in the day, four personal physicians examined Khaleda at the old jailhouse in Dhaka.
“On Jun 5, she suddenly fell on the floor and cannot recall about the incident. It appears she has suffered a mild stroke and there’s a possibility of stroke in future,” FM Siddique, a medicine professor at the Dhaka Medical College, told the media after emerging from the premises on Old Dhaka's Nazimuddin Road.
The three others who examined the former PM are neurosurgeon Wahidur Rahman, ophthalmologist Professor Adbul Quddus and cardiologist Mamun Rahman.
After inspecting her health condition, the doctors recommended transferring Khaleda to a specialised hospital, preferably the United Hospital, for better care.
Siddque said they also handed over a four-page report to the prison authorities on the BNP chief’s condition and their recommendations.
BNP leaders have been long demanding Khaleda be transferred to a hospital, alleging that the authorities were not arranging proper treatment for the ‘ailing’ leader.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi quoted Khaleda’s relatives, who met her at the prison that she has been “suffering from high-fever for the last three weeks”.
“In medical terminology it’s called transient ischemic attack. Both of her legs have swollen and she can’t move properly,” Rizvi claimed.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a brief episode of neurological dysfunction caused by loss of blood flow (ischemia) in the brain, spinal cord, or retina, without tissue death (infarction). It causes the same symptoms associated with stroke, such as paralysis, weakness, or numbness on one side of the body.
A three-time prime minister, Khaleda is serving a five-year term since Feb 8, when she was convicted of embezzling foreign donations made to the Zia Orphanage Trust.
A government-formed medical board said after examining Khaleda that her illness was ‘nothing serious’.
She also underwent medical tests at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in April.