2017 assisted suicide rate up by 32.5% in French-speaking Switzerland

Publié le 4 May, 2018

Despite a survey which shows that 82% of Swiss nationals think about their end of life at some point or other, and 94% acknowledge “the relevance of palliative care” (see Four out of five Swiss people support palliative care), the association Exit [1] has published assisted suicide statistics for French-speaking Switzerland.

 

In 2017, 286 individuals, i.e. 32.5% more than in the previous year, had recourse to assisted suicide. Most assisted suicides took place in the person’s home and mainly concerned women (54.9%) as opposed to men (45.10%). Exit approved 237 out of the 455 requests received. Ten were rejected and eight are pending. With 115 cases, cancer is the “main disease behind the request for assisted suicide”.

For David Beck, vice-president of Exit Suisse Romande, “assisted suicides are more common in urban cantons”, since “social pressure disappears with the anonymity of city life”.

 

Further reading:

Assisted suicide is rising sharply in Switzerland

Switzerland: two brothers continue their fight for justice against Exit

Increase in the number of assisted suicides in Switzerland:“The real danger lies in breeding a culture heading in this direction”

RTS, Manon Germond (12/04/2018) ; Le Matin (11/04/2018)

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