Mandela`s health still critical but improving

Cape Town: South Africa`s former president Nelson Mandela remained in a critical but stable condition, the country`s presidency said Friday. Nothing had changed from the last update on Mandela`s condition issued Aug 11, Xinhua quoted presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj as saying. In the last update, Maharaj quoted Mandela`s medical team as saying that Mandela`s health was improving steadily, but he still remained in a critical condition. Mandela was rushed to a hospital in Pretoria for a recurring lung infection June 8. Friday was his 77th day in hospital. Mandela`s daughter Zindzi Mandela Aug 9 said that her father could manage to sit up, a sign of great improvement in his condition.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been suffering from a recurring lung infection, which is the result of tuberculosis developed when he was imprisoned for 27 years during the apartheid period. IANS