Andrew Kishore’s health condition deteriorates

Andrew Kishore, under treatment for blood cancer in Singapore, is not doing well. His health condition is steadily deteriorating.

He has been in the Singapore General Hospital for a month and was due to return back home in Bangladesh this February, but this is now uncertain. Meanwhile, his medical costs are escalating.

This famous singer of Bangladesh is suffering from Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. He left for Singapore on 9 September and on 18 September he was diagnosed to have Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He is undergoing treatment at the Singapore hospital.

At the outset, it was said that he would have to undergo 24 chemotherapy sessions in 6 phases and so far 17 have been completed in 4 phases. Preparations were on for 24 chemos in the fifth phase, but it has not been possible to start this. His body is not strong enough to undergo chemotherapy.

Singer Momin Biswas, also a student of Andrew Kishore, is in regular contact with this eight-time national award winning singer. He told Prothom Alo, “I spoke to ‘dada’ just this morning. He had great difficulty in speaking and is getting bouts of fever. He has been given a few bags of blood. The physicians have suspended his chemotherapy for some time due to all sorts of physical complications. Once these complicates abate, the chemotherapy will resume.”

Family sources said that he had previously been undergoing treatment at home and was taken to the hospital for chemotherapy. He would stay in hospital for a few days and then return home. But now he is not well enough to be kept at home.

Momin Biswas said, “Dada’s medical expenses have escalated too. His family is struggling to meet these costs. We had hoped to bring dada back home in February, but that will not be possible. Please pray for dada that he may recover and return home soon, that he may sing like before all over again.”

When asked about the disease, renowned clinical haematologist Manzur Morshed told Prothom Alo that Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was a cancer that began from cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a part of the body’s immune system. This disease leads to fever, sweating at night, weight loss, appetite loss, weakness, breathing difficulty and other symptoms. The patients initially get mouth ulcers, anaemia, their faces are swollen, and they have difficulty in moving their jaws and so on. This disease can be treated, but its treatment is extremely costly anywhere in the world.

Andrew Kishore’s wife has appealed for funds for the singer’s medical treatment on the ‘Go Fund Me’ website. Bangladeshi residents in Singapore opened this site and Momin Biswas is in charge of the fund collection. He has called upon the government as well as film, music and television personalities to come forward to assist Andrew Kishore.

Andrew Kishore music tutelage began under Abdul Aziz Bachchu. His playback singing career in the movies began in 1977 with the song ‘Achinpurer rajkumari nei je tar keu’ composed by Alam Khan for the film ‘Mail Train’. His popular numbers include ‘Hai re manush, rangin fanush,’’Dak diyachhen doyal amarey,’ ‘Shobai tou bhalobasha chai,’ ‘Poray na chokher palak,’ and many more.