Quader doing well without ventilator support: Doctor

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, who has been shifted to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital with heart complications since Monday, is now doing well even without any ventilator support.

“The Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump (IABP) machine, which was set up in his heart to make it function well, has been removed this morning,” Dr Abu Nasar Rizvi, a professor at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), said during a briefing on Thursday noon.

The briefing followed that by Dr Koh Siam Soon Philip, who is heading a medical board supervising Quader treatment in Singapore.

Rizvi, who is also coordinating Quader’s treatment, said his kidneys also are now functioning better than before. The quantity of his sleeping medicines has also been brought down. He is responding to doctors’ call.

The infection is almost under control. After all, his health is quite improving, he added.

Quader’s wife, Begum Ishratunnesa Quader, MP Sheikh Helal, Bangladesh High Commissioner in Sigapore Mostafizur Rahmand and Dr Rizvi, among others, were present during Dr Koh’s briefing. When Dr Rizvi again briefed at the hospital lobby, Gazipur City Corporation Mayor Jahangir Alam and Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed, among others were present, local media reports say.

Dr Koh is scheduled to brief on Quader’s health at 4:00 pm Singapore local time on Friday.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, was transfered to the Singapore hospital on Monday for better treatment as per advice of renowned Indian cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty, who visited Bangladesh on that day only to examine him.

Just a day before, Sunday morning, the minister was admitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) as he complained of breathing problems.

After conducting an angiogram, doctors found three blockages in his coronary arteries.