The creation of the Office of Commissioner for Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment in Imo State, last December, was not the beginning of many “awkward” portfolios evolving in the system of Government, as ETN24 showed through its piece. Britain has now appointed Minister for Loneliness to tackle “the sad reality of modern life”.
Prime Minister, Theresa May, says “For too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life affecting millions of people.
“I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones — people who have no one to talk to, or share their thoughts and experiences with.”
Tracey Crouch, a Junior Minister for Sport and Civil Society, will be charged with the responsibility, as part of a broader strategy to combat loneliness in Britain and find ways of measuring alienation in official statistics.
“We know that there is a real impact of social isolation and loneliness on people, on their physical and mental well-being but also on other aspects in society and we want to tackle this challenge.”
The Ministerial appointment follows a recommendation from a committee in memory of Jo Cox, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour party who was murdered by a far-right extremist.
The Jo Cox Foundation wrote on Twitter: “Jo experienced and witnessed loneliness throughout her life especially as a new student at Cambridge University and separated from her sister Kim for (the) first time.
“She would be delighted by Tracey Crouch’s new job as Minister for loneliness and would be saying ‘let’s get to work!’”
The Prime Minister was to host a reception on Wednesday to celebrate the legacy left by Cox, whose killing, few days to the 2016 Brexit referendum, shook the nation.
According to the British Red Cross, more than nine million people say they are always or often lonely, out of a population of 65.6 million.
Another study conducted in 2010 by the non-profit organization, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), gave an estimate of about 42.6 million adults aged over 45, reported suffering from chronic loneliness in the United States.
In a survey conducted by Eurostat, revealed 6% of Europeans can be described as being lonely.
It further asserted that men are more lonely than women, while people living in the city have fewer persons to confide in than those who live in the Countryside.
The IMMI group reveals top 10 loneliest Countries to be:
- Brazil
- Kenya
- South Africa
- Russia
- Canada
- USA
- Italy
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- Sweden
