Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he believes he can overcome the lung infection caused by chronic leukemia, which has put him in the intensive care unit, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.

"It's hard, but I will overcome again," said the 86-year-old media magnate in a telephone conversation with Il Giornale editor-in-chief Augusto Minzolini.

"The current treatment strategy includes treatment of the pulmonary infection as well as specialized treatment to limit the negative effects of chronic leukemia," the respective therapy report reads.

Berlusconi was admitted to the intensive care unit of San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday, with what aides said was a respiratory problem caused by an infection.

Doctors noted that the type of leukemia that has afflicted Berlusconi usually occurs in older people and is characterized by an increase in the number of white blood cells known as monocytes.

Berlusconi has had many health issues in recent years, including heart disease and, in 2020, COVID-19, when he was hospitalized with pneumonia in a severe condition.

In 2016, he underwent heart surgery, and decades ago he overcame prostate cancer.