The health condition of former deputy prime minister Ghafar Baba, admitted at the Pantai Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, "continues to improve" the hospital's consultant cardiologist Dr Zainal Abidin Abdul Hamid said today.

"He is now keen to communicate with the doctor although he is not able to speak yet because of the temporary opening in his airway, known as tracheotomy," said Zainal in a statement this afternoon.

"(It) had to be performed to enable him to breathe easily. He is able to breathe on his own for a prolonged period now without assistance," the doctor added.

Statement issued at 1pm

The brief statement was read out by a PMC official when contacted by malaysiakini . The statement was released at about 1pm to deny strong rumours that Ghafar, 80, has passed away.

The rumours came hours after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's wife, Endon Mahmood, 64, passed away at 7.55 this morning after a battle against breast cancer.

Ghafar has been admitted at the PMC since last Thursday after he was transferred there from the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre where he had been admitted following chest pains.