How other countries safeguard the health of their leaders

While Boris Johnson is being treated in a public hospital, other world leaders have the benefit of private medical teams to tend to their health.

From personal physicians to secluded hospital wings, countries have systems in place to ensure their leaders are well looked after during ill health. United States had personal physicians overseeing their health alongside a private team of nurses and medics.

France

The president of France has a “medical service” at the Élysée, including several medics and a personal doctor who are present 24/7. President Emmanuel Macron’s current doctor is Jean-christophe Perrochon, who is said to be a close confidant, sitting in on meetings concerning Covid-19, while ensuring he wears a mask and avoids shaking hands during the pandemic. Spain According to a protocol dating back more than 20 years, Spain’s government has a team of seven doctors, seven nurses and an ambulance crew

to provide care for the prime minister and deputy prime minister.

Russia Vladimir Putin and other senior members of the Kremlin elite are officially treated in a special wing of Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital.

However, Mr Putin’s physical fitness is a crucial plank of his image and authority and details of any health issues he may have are closely guarded.

He has said in the past he only sees doctors when it is absolutely necessary. Israel If Benjamin Netanyahu falls ill, he would be treated by his personal physician, Dr Tzvi Berkowitz, and if he were admitted to hospital, it would be at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Germany Germany has no Us-style presidential doctor or medical team for the chancellor.

Angela Merkel has to rely on her regular GP and, if she falls ill, will be treated in one of Berlin’s major hospitals. When she travels abroad on government business, she is accompanied by a doctor.