BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is set to travel to London for advanced medical treatment, scheduled to leave Dhaka on Tuesday night. Before her departure, she will hold a meeting with the party’s standing committee members at her residence in Gulshan, Dhaka, at 8 PM on Sunday. According to BNP sources, Khaleda Zia plans to stay in London for nearly two months and may perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia on her way back to Bangladesh. Her personal doctor, Professor A.Z.M. Jahid Hossain, confirmed that preparations for her treatment at Johns Hopkins University Hospital are complete, with the trip likely to happen on January 7.

Last year, three American specialists treated her liver and stomach issues using a special procedure (TIPS) to prevent fluid accumulation and bleeding. A 15-member delegation, including her late son Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife, Syeda Sharmila Rahman, doctors, BNP leaders, staff, and two domestic helpers, will accompany her. Khaleda Zia had previously traveled to London in 2017, returning to Bangladesh in October of that year while facing arrest warrants in several cases. In 2018, she was imprisoned following the Zia Orphanage Trust case.

In March 2020, the government suspended her sentence on humanitarian grounds, allowing her conditional release. Since then, her release has been extended several times due to her health issues, and she has required multiple hospitalizations. Despite repeated requests, the government did not allow her to travel abroad until she underwent surgery at Evercare Hospital under the supervision of local and international doctors. Following a popular uprising on August 5, the President granted her release, and she will reunite with her son Tarique Rahman in London after seven years. Tarique and his family have lived in London since 2008. Khaleda Zia suffers from multiple health conditions, including liver cirrhosis, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, and various dental and eye issues.