Japan appoints ‘loneliness’ minister after rise in suicide case during COVID-19 pandemic

Japan has appointed a Minister for Loneliness this month, the first in 11 years, amid rise in suicide cases in the country during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Tetsushi Sakamoto, who handles the nation’s falling birth rate and is in charge of revitalising regional economies, has been elected as the Minister of Loneliness by Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, says a report in The Japan Times. 

Suga, earlier in February, has expanded his cabinet adding the Minister of Loneliness, reports The Japan Times, following the suit of the UK, which was the first nation to create a similar role in 2018. Sakamoto took over the position on February 12, as per CNN.

Sakamoto said that PM Suga has appointed him to address matters that include the issue of “the increasing women’s suicide rate under the pandemic,” quotes CNN. 

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In a press conference, he said that the Japan PM has instructed him to “examine the issue and put forward a comprehensive strategy, by coordinating with the related ministry,” CNN reports. 

“I hope to carry out activities to prevent social loneliness and isolation and to protect ties between people,” Sakamoto added. 

As per a CNN report, the government on February 19 also created an “isolation/loneliness countermeasures office” within the cabinet. The office will handle the issues of suicide and child poverty that increased in the pandemic. 

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Japan has recorded over 426,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 7,500 deaths, a tally by the Johns Hopkins University say. Meanwhile, 5,000 have received the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country.