Rome, April 7, (dpa/GNA) - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is being treated in hospital for pneumonia and has been suffering for some time from chronic myeloid leukaemia, according to an official statement from Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital on Thursday.
Berlusconi was initially admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital with cardiovascular and respiratory problems and has since been in the intensive care unit.
The 86-year-old has already started chemotherapy, ANSA reported on Thursday afternoon, citing sources close to Berlusconi.
The first dose against “a form of leukaemia” had already been administered by the doctors on Wednesday evening, reports said.
He will remain an in-patient at the hospital in order to mitigate the negative effects of the pneumonia on his overall condition, which has been affected by the leukaemia, the statement says.
Antonio Tajani, the deputy leader of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, said on Italian television on Thursday morning that he had spoken by phone with Berlusconi’s doctor, Alberto Zangrillo.
According to the statement, Berlusconi had spent a “quiet night” in the hospital.
“We hope that the lion will return soon. He never gives up,” Tajani said. “We remain optimistic.”
On Wednesday, Berlusconi’s children, his partner and his brother Paolo visited him in hospital, according to media reports. On leaving the hospital, the brother reportedly told journalists: “His condition is stable, he is a rock.”
The former prime minister’s political allies sent good wishes. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wished Berlusconi “a speedy recovery from the bottom of [her] heart.” “Forza, Silvio!” she wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
When Berlusconi’s name was called out during a vote in the Senate, noting that the Forza Italia party leader was absent, applause broke out among the deputies.
Only last Thursday, Berlusconi had been released after a four-day stay in the same hospital. Officially, there was talk at the time of routine examinations, though reports at the time said he was being treated for cardiovascular problems.
The leader of the ruling Forza Italia, which translates as “Go, Italy,” has been struggling with health problems for years.
At the end of 2020, for example, he was ill with a coronavirus infection and pneumonia, and last year he had to go to hospital for a urinary tract infection. In 2016, he had heart surgery.
GNA