Khaleda Zia cannot use left hand: doctor

Bangladesh's jailed former prime minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia can no longer use her left arm after it was paralysed and bent, her doctor has said.

Zia, 73, was last week admitted to a specialised state-run hospital here for proper treatment following a court order as her health deteriorated.

Zia was jailed for five years in February after being convicted of corruption involving an orphanage.

"She has been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for the past 30 years, which has played a role in the paralytic deformity of her left arm. These kinds of problems are rising as her gout is worsening," Dr Abdul Jalil Chowdhury told a press briefing at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital on Monday.

The head of the five-member medical board tasked with treating the incarcerated BNP chairperson has said that Zia's left arm has ended up paralysed and bent as she did not take her arthritis medicines properly, Dhaka Tribune quoted the doctor as saying.

Chowdhury also said that Zia was mainly suffering from gout and joint pain, apart from diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.

"She is also having trouble with one of her knees that had been replaced. So that's another issue," he added.

He said that Zia had been suffering from diabetes for the past 20 years, but she did not take the prescribed insulin. "So we will have to find out the level of her diabetes first."