The Exit Suisse alémanique association has published its figures for 2015. Assisted suicide requests “have soared”: 782 “cases” in 2015, i.e. “30% more than in 2014”. Exit Suisse romande should publish its figures in April, but “a similar trend” already “seems apparent”.
The Swiss Criminal Code was altered in 2001 to authorise “assisted suicide”, “provided that it is not motivated by a ‘selfish motive’”. Since then, “the number of patients accessing this service has risen constantly”. Exit attributes this rise to population aging.
Of the 782 people who died through assisted suicide in 2015, “55% were women” with an average age of 77.4 years. These were mainly individuals “in the terminal phase of cancer”, with several “aging-related diseases” or “suffering from chronic disease”.
In Switzerland, “every year, assisted suicide accounts for 1.5% of the 65,000 registered deaths”. However, associations such as Exit or Dignitas also welcome “non-residents”, mainly German, English and French people. Thus, in four years, “over 600 people have travelled to Switzerland from all over the world to access assisted suicide”, including 66 French people.
Pourquoi Docteur (2/03/2016)