Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who suffers from an inflammatory bowel disease, returned Monday from a checkup at a Tokyo hospital to reassure the media about the state of health and insist he wanted to do the best job.
There is growing concern about the state of his health in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, after undergoing a medical examination last week for more than seven and a half hours.
Government spokeswoman Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a regular briefing Abe received ‘additional tests’ after that check.
“I see him every day and I see no change in him,” Suga said.
Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, on Monday broke a half-century-old record set by his great-uncle Eisaku Sato for the longest consecutive term as prime minister.
He went back to his official residence to tell reporters that he wanted everything he could to maintain his health and do his utmost best on his job.
Abe has been in office since 2012.
He resigned from his first term just one year into the job in 2007 due to his illness with ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition, which he now keeps under control with medications that were not available before.
Diet and stress are thought to increase fitness.
Speculation about Abe’s health comes as he gets renewed pressure over his government’s deal with the coronavirus pandemic and declining public support. A poll published on Sunday by the Kyodo news agency found the approval rating for its cabinet at just 36 percent, the second lowest level since its second term began in 2012.
The prime minister’s office did not give a detailed explanation of his hospital visit last week, but health minister Katsunobu Kato, a close aide, said it was a regular check-up and he was “not at all” concerned about Abe’s health.
Abe receives a regular check-up twice a year, with his most on June 13, the Kyodo news agency said, adding that last week’s visit was a continuation of the June check-up, with a source from the hospital.
Akira Amari, another Abe confidant and chair of the Liberal Democratic Party’s tax panel, said Abe, 65, could suffer from fatigue due to his ongoing work on the response to the virus.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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