Former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital since August 9, has been put on life support, AIIMS officials confirmed on Saturday.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Mr. Jaitley on Friday at the hospital. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and other senior officials from the Ministry also visited the BJP leader.
Mr. Jaitley has been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dr. Vardhan said on Friday: “Doctors at AIIMS are doing the best they can.”
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and other top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders visited the hospital to enquire about his condition.
AIIMS officials have noted that Mr. Jaitley was now stable and recovering. The 67-year-old Mr. Jaitley is under the care of a team of endocrinologists, nephrologists and cardiologists.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Jaitley has been put on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), also known as extracorporeal life support. This is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life.