Prime Minister Drew cleared to return to full duty after stroke
Dr Terrance Drew says he has completed rehabilitation and will resume official duties this week, more than six weeks after he was taken ill.
BASSETERRE, St Kitts. Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew has been medically cleared to return to full duty, more than six weeks after suffering a stroke.
In an address to the nation on Tuesday, Dr Drew said he had completed both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and had been told by his doctors that he was fit to resume his responsibilities.
"I was told that I am fit to return to full duty," the Prime Minister said.
Dr Drew was admitted to the Joseph N. France General Hospital on the evening of 30 August after experiencing mild discomfort, nausea and a headache, and was later flown abroad for specialised observation. In an earlier national address he disclosed that the stroke had been caused by a dissection of the vertebral artery.
During his absence, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Geoffrey Hanley served as Acting Prime Minister under the constitutional order of succession.
Dr Drew said he would resume official duties this week and travel to Washington, DC, for a United States and Caribbean dialogue on Thursday.
He used the address to restate his government's priorities of renewable energy, water security, education and food security, and pointed to the desalination plant, which he said had passed its goal of giving 70 per cent of the country access to a 24-hour water supply.
