Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has appointed Tetsushi Sakamoto as its first-ever “Minister of Loneliness” to try and overcome loneliness and the rise in suicide rates due to the coronavirus crisis, Japan Times reported.
According to the Japan Times, Tetsushi Sakamoto will be in charge of the ministry as well as tackling the country’s birth rate decline and reviving the regional economy.
“Women are suffering from isolation more [than men are], and the number of suicides is on a rising trend,” Suga told the outlet during a February 12 news conference. “I hope you will identify problems and promote policy measures comprehensively.”
Japanese women have been suffering from depression since the start of the coronavirus pandemic more than a year ago. In October last year, 880 Japanese women committed suicide, 70 percent more than in 2019. According to the survey, women are more likely to commit suicide than men in Japan.
The United Kingdom became the first country to appoint a loneliness minister in 2018.❐
