Khaleda Zia preparing to visit London on 7 January

Highlights

• Khaleda Zia plans to travel to London on 7 January for advanced treatment

• A 15-member team, including her physician, will accompany her; visas for the UK, US, and Saudi Arabia are ready

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• She suffers from liver cirrhosis and will need a liver transplant

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is preparing to head for London on 7 January 2025 to get advanced treatments for her health complications.

She will be accompanied by a 15-member team, which includes her physician, nurse, and personal assistants. Khaleda's personal assistant ABM Abdus Sattar informed journalists at noon (25 December).

"No date has been fixed for Khaleda Zia's foreign trip. But preparations are ongoing with 7 January in mind," said Sattar.

Khaleda, a former two-time prime minister, is suffering from liver cirrhosis.

Her physicians said she would need a liver transplant.

In addition, the 79-year-old politician has been suffering from various complications including heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, arthritis, and diabetes for a long time.

Earlier on 29 October, Khaleda's personal physician and BNP Standing Committee member Professor Dr AZM Zahid Hossain told reporters that Khaleda Zia would first be taken to London in a 'Long Distance Specialised Air Ambulance' for better treatment.

From there, she is expected to be taken to a multidisciplinary medical centre in the United States.

According to party sources, Khaleda Zia received her renewed Machine Readable Passport (MRP) in early August. In November, she applied for a visa for a trip to the United Kingdom. She has already received a visa for Saudi Arabia in addition to the United States and the United Kingdom. She might perform Umrah from Saudi while returning home after treatment.

Besides, a list of at least 15 people has already been given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Khaleda Zia's travel companions.

On 30 October, the Foreign Adviser Tauhid Hossain told reporters that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will go to the UK and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will help her to get a visa for that country. Begum Zia's family and her assistants are among the visitors.

Khaleza Zia last visited London on 16 July 2017.