Pak teenage activist Malala discharged from British hospital

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage activist, who was shot in the head by Taliban for advocating girls' education, has been temporarily discharged from a British hospital after she made "excellent progress in her recovery," doctors treating her said on Friday.

Malala, 15, would continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary English home before undergoing major reconstructive surgery in a few weeks, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham said.

Malala was shot in Pakistan's conservative Swat Valley on October 9 and air-lifted to the QEHB on October 15 for further specialist treatment. She received bullet wounds just above her left eye.

"Malala Yousufzai was discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham as an inpatient yesterday to continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary home in the West Midlands," the hospital said in a statement.

She "is well enough to be treated by the hospital as an outpatient for the next few weeks," it said.

She is still due to be re-admitted in late January or early February to undergo cranial reconstructive surgery as part of her long-term recovery and in the meantime she will visit the hospital regularly to attend clinical appointments.

Malala had been regularly leaving the hospital over the past couple of weeks to visit her family at home, said the statement.

Dr Dave Rosser, Medical Director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery.

"Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers.

"She will return to the hospital as an outpatient and our Therapies team will continue to work with her at home to supervise her onward care," Rosser said.

Malala's father Ziauddin has been appointed as education attache in Pakistan consulate in Birmingham for three years, with the option of an extension for a further two years afterwards.