After cancelling a scheduled appearance at the Bir Hospital on Sunday due to illness, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be leaving for Singapore on Saturday to undergo a full health checkup.

Though Oli initially wanted to go to Thailand, his doctors suggested Singapore instead for a week-long medical follow-up, his advisors told the Post.

“I recommended that the prime minister visit Singapore, as healthcare facilities there are more advanced than ours, and those in Thailand,” Dr Dibya Singh Shah, Oli’s personal doctor, told the Post. “In Singapore, he can conduct all necessary tests, which we can’t do here.”

Shah also suggested that Oli rest up for a few days, as the prime minister’s schedule has lately been a busy one.

At a programme held at the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center on Saturday, PM Oli had given a marathon 45-minute speech, but on Sunday, he cancelled the Bir Hospital’s anniversary programme at the last minute, citing health conditions.

At 67 years of age, Oli was in frail health before his election to the post of prime minister in 2018. Oli had gotten both his kidneys replaced 12 years ago, and needs to conduct regular follow-ups, for which he had visited Bangkok in January 2018. Oli has visited Singapore once before, in July 2014, after an infection led to his hands swelling.

Dr Shah said that all of Oli’s medical reports are normal, but the hectic nature of his job could’ve had untoward effects on his health.

“He [Oli] had heart palpitations and a heightened sugar level, but that is due to over-exhaustion,” said Dr Arun Sayami of the Institute of Medicine, who has been conducting regular examinations on Oli. “If someone can give a 45-minute, they can’t be seriously unwell.”

An ultrasound-guided renal biopsy had been conducted on the prime minister a few days ago at the Nepal Army hospital to test the functioning of his kidneys. Though the results haven’t come back yet, Sayami said that all other tests, including an ECG, were “normal”. Though there were traces of protein in his urine, Sayami said that this was due to stress.

“Such problems happen to those who undergo renal transplants,” said Sayami. Oli will undergo more specific tests in Singapore, but Sayami did not elaborate, citing privacy concerns.

The Singapore hospital that Oli will be visiting has yet to be finalised, neither has the team that will be accompanying him, said Oli’s communication expert Ramsharan Bajgain. The team, however, is certain to include his wife, Radhika Shakya and his personal doctors.