Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should be able to serve out the remainder of his term as party leader ending about a year from now, his right-hand man said, after recent hospital visits raised questions about the prime minister’s health.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, 71, said in an interview Thursday that he expects Abe to explain his health condition in a proper way. Abe is scheduled on Friday at 5 p.m. to give his first full news conference since June, at which time he’s expected to discuss virus policy as well as his own health.

"Of course,” Suga said, when asked whether Abe could withstand another year in a physically demanding job that sometimes requires weeks in a row in parliamentary committees. "He’ll be all right,” he said, adding that he saw no change in Abe’s condition.