Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley is due to undergo medical tests at a health clinic in the United States on Monday amid widespread speculation that he is seriously ill and calls by opposition legislators for him to disclose the status of his health.
Prime Minister Rowley, 66, who is on a two week vacation, has acknowledged that for the past 35 years he has managed his health issues through diligent and disciplined guidance from his chosen doctors at home and in California.
“I have been regularly, even annually, reviewed by them over the years. This occasion is hardly different except that as a result of the intensity of my activities during the last 36 months or so I have not kept my annual appointments until recently.
“I did my examinations locally and the results were transmitted to my doctors abroad. There have appeared to be some changes which both sets of doctors conclude should be investigated further. That is what I am here for and that is what I have referred to when I spoke to the public about travel and health as well as vacation,” Rowley said in a text message to the Trinidad Express newspaper.
He said that while he is “very heartened by the outpourings of empathy and prayers which have been voluntarily directed towards me and my family from a wide cross section of the population…I am with family who are in the medical field here in California and I check into a clinic on Monday for the examinations as mentioned.
“The various procedures and processes should take about a week and I expect to return home as soon as it is completed and I am able to travel,” he said, noting that ”for me and my family, my health and choices on matters remain personal even when one is a public figure.
“I trust that all decent right thinking citizens will continue to see it that way. Thanks,” wrote Rowley, who became Prime Minister in September last year after leading the People’;s National Movement (PNM) into office
Former prime minister Basdeo Panday, who underwent surgery in the United Kingdom soon after coming to office, also agreed that the health and medical records of a prime minister are private and should not be shared with the public.
“He (Rowley) has gone for medical tests, he can. I can’t see why this has become an issue,” Panday said, adding that it should be left to Rowley or his office to inform the public of any matters relating to his health but it should not be mandatory for him to do so.
But the main opposition United National Congress (UNC) and the Congress of the People (COP) have called on Rowley to disclose the nature of his illness.
COP leader Dr. Anirudh Mahabir said that as prime minister, Rowley’s health holds implications for the nation’s future
“It is our view that the Prime Minister’s health is the business of Trinidad and Tobago, and in his position as Prime Minister, he cannot say it is private and confidential.
“We wondered since it is reported that he will be hospitalised in North America for a few days to do his test, and also the fact that the local doctors referred him abroad to have further tests, how serious is his medical condition? And is it going to affect the ability to perform his duties in the near future?
“If he cannot perform his normal duties, what will happen to the leadership of the PNM, what will happen to our government, who is likely to be the Prime Minister if he cannot manage that function?” he added.
Former minister of gender, youth and child development Verna St Rose Greaves said there is speculation that Rowley is suffering from “throat cancer” and took to her Facebook page to recall the speculation about her health after she had cut off her hair.
“… as far as some people here and beyond are concerned; he too is a ‘victim’ of the dreaded disease. Diagnosis by gossip pinpoints throat cancer, and as evidence they cite the hoarseness of his voice. As I plead for his good health, I reject the notion for many reasons including my own experience,” she wrote.
Former head of the public service and diplomat Reginald Dumas said that Rowley’s health shoul;d not be a private affair.
“Dr Rowley is the Prime Minister and the health of the Prime Minister, who that happens to be, has to be a matter of concern to the population,” he added.
