Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad has been put on life support as his condition has deteriorated.
"The former president HM Ersahd was put on life support at 4:10pm on Thursday," his deputy press secretary Khandaker Delwar Jalali told Bangla Tribune.
Earlier in the day, Ershad's younger brother and acting party chairman GM Quader said the party president's condition has remained unchanged for the last three days.
"His condition is not improving as per the doctor's expectations, hence flying abroad for better treatment is not feasible at present," he told a media call at the party chief’s Banani offices.
"The doctors of the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) are relentlessly providing him with world-class treatment, consulting both local and international doctors. If the doctors feel the need to call foreign experts, we will do this too,” GM Quader added.
However, Ershad's infections in the lung and kidney are not improving, increasing the water level in his body, the JaPa acting chairman further said.
GM Quader urged the people to pray for Ershad's early recovery at all places of worship, including mosques, temples, churches and pagodas.
Ershad is suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome, Jatiya Party Secretary General Moshiur Rahman Ranga told the media on Wednesday after a meeting of the party’s policymaking forum.
Symptoms of myelodysplastic syndrome may include feeling tired, shortness of breath, easy bleeding, or frequent infections caused by poorly formed blood cells or ones that do not work properly.
Immature blood cells in the bone marrow of patients suffering from the syndrome do not mature and therefore do not become healthy blood cells.
Ershad’s count of haemoglobin formation is 10 while the normal rate is 12, according to JP Secretary General Ranga.
The 89-year-old already had a low haemoglobin level in his blood and was diagnosed with lung infection and kidney ailment after he was admitted to the CMH on Jun 22.