Cases of assisted suicide in Switzerland have gradually increased over a decade to reach nearly 300 in 2009, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
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The first-ever official figures on the issue, published on Tuesday, show fewer than 50 Swiss residents resorted to assisted suicide to end their lives in 1998 – about six times less than in 2009.
Most people were over the age of 55 and suffered from cancer.
No figures are available for the period before 1998.
The Statistics Office said international comparisons were difficult as legislation varied considerably from one country to the next.
The Swiss government last year decided to drop plans for specific legislation on assisted suicide. The method is legal if performed by a non-physician with no vested interest.
There are two main organisations, Exit and Dignitas, which offer their services to terminally ill patients.
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Zurich voters reject ban on “suicide tourism”
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A proposal to restrict access for foreigners to assisted suicide only to those living at least one year in the canton was rejected by 78.4 per cent of voters. A second popular initiative launched by fringe conservative parties the Federal Democratic Union and the Evangelical Party seeking a national ban on assisted suicide was rejected…
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Exit, which caters for Swiss residents only, revealed on Monday it helped a total of 416 people to end their lives last year. Of those, 305 deaths occurred in the German-speaking part of the country, up from 257 in 2010, while 111 deaths took place in the French-speaking areas, up from 91 the previous year.…
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The decision is the latest step in a drawn-out public controversy over current regulations on the right to die and so-called ‘suicide tourism’ – people travelling to Switzerland to end their lives. Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said the cabinet was convinced that abuses of the system could be tackled under the existing legislation. “Revising the…
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