BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been receiving treatment in a cabin at Evercare Hospital for the last 26 days and her condition has not improved enough to be discharged, her personal physician Professor AZM Zahid Hossain said on Monday.

"She has been provided with treatment under close observation of doctors and her medical board members. They're visiting her two or three times a day, conducting tests and taking necessary measures," he said.

Zahid said Khaleda's medical board members are treating her in consultation with local and foreign doctors.

He said doctors feel it is necessary to keep Khaleda Zia under close observation. "That's why she has to stay in the hospital for a few more days."

Asked when the BNP chief may get released from hospital, he said Khaleda's physical condition has not yet improved enough to take her home from the hospital. "So, the medical board still can't say specifically how many more days she will have to stay in the hospital."

Zahid said the BNP chairperson has to stay in the hospital for a few more days to continue her treatment under the supervision of the doctors.

A member of her medical board, wishing anonymity, said, "She has been suffering from some very critical diseases and no hospital in Bangladesh has the capacity to give her the exact treatment that she needs now." 

He said it is essential to send Khaleda to any sophisticated medical centre abroad with liver transplant facilities to save her life. "But we're trying our best to ensure her condition doesn't deteriorate as a complete cure is not possible here."

On August 9, Khaleda was admitted to Evercare Hospital for health checkups and treatment as she fell sick and she has been receiving treatment at the hospital since then under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.

Khaleda, a 79-year-old former prime minister, has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.