A British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist who is on hunger and water strike has been admitted to hospital amid growing concerns about his health, his family said.

Mona Seif, the sister of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, said that prison officials told her “medical intervention” has been initiated.

Mr Abdel-Fattah, 40, who is serving a five-year sentence on charges of disseminating false news, escalated his hunger strike earlier this week. He stopped drinking water on November 6, the day Egypt opened the UN Cop27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.

He rose to fame during the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept through the Middle East, toppling Egypt’s long-time president Hosni Mubarak.

He has spent the majority of the past decade behind bars with his detention becoming a symbol of the North African country’s return to autocratic rule.

World leaders and activists have repeatedly called for Egyptian authorities to release him.