Elderly must hurry up and die: Minister

2013-01-22 12:09

(File, AP)

Cape Town – Japan's finance minister said on Monday that  elderly citizens were draining the country's finances and that the only way to solve "the problem" would be to for the elderly to forgo medical treatment and "hurry up and die", said a report.

"Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government," Minister Taro Aso is reported by The Guardian as having said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. "The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die."

According to the report, Aso, who is 72 years old, said he had instructed his family not to authorise any life-prolonging treatment. "I don't need that kind of care." 

The report said the minister later attempted to clarify his comments, saying his comments had been "inappropriate" in a public forum and insisted he was talking only about his personal preference.

Almost a quarter of Japan's 128 million citizens are aged over 60 with the proportion forecast to rise to 40% over the next 50 years.













 

- News24