Ershad on life support
Health Minister Zahid Malik said Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, now undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) here, has been put on life support as his condition turned critical.
Talking to reporters after vising Ershad at the CMH on Monday evening, the minister said, "His (Ershad's) condition can be described as critical. He is on life support, and the overall situation is critical," UNB reports.
He said all the possible treatment is being provided to Ershad at the CMH. "Everything now depends on the will of Allah. All should now pray for his recovery. Doctors said he is not in a condition that he could be sent abroad."
Zahid Malik added, "Ershad is being given the treatment that he is supposed to be provided abroad. His health condition doesn't permit to take him abroad. So, there's no plan to send him anywhere."
Mentioning that the Jatiya Party Chairman's condition is improving, Malik said he will recover if the trend of improvement continues. "If his condition deteriorates further, there'll remain nothing to do."
Ershad's younger brother and Jatiya Party acting chairman GM Quader and party secretary general Moshiur Rahman Ranga were present when the health minister was talking to journalists.
Ershad has been ill for quite some time, suffering from low haemoglobin count and liver complications. He was admitted to the CMH on June 22.
The party had so far said that Ershad was being treated in the hospital’s ‘Critical Care Unit’. But on Monday, AKM Mustafa, a member of Jatiya Party’s central committee, in a Facebook post revealed that the party chief had been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
According to party leaders, his condition was improving on Saturday before taking a turn for the worse on Sunday morning, .
Word of Ershad’s death subsequently began spreading on Sunday evening but his brother Quader moved to dismiss it as a ‘rumour’.
Ershad, also the leader of the opposition in parliament, was admitted to the CMH on Wednesday morning as his condition deteriorated.
The former military ruler has been suffering from various old age complications, including low haemoglobin and liver problem, high bilirubin and serious keen pain.
