Rise in euthanasia due to ageing population, study shows
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A recent study shows that the increase in euthanasia cases in Belgium is mainly due to the country's ageing population, De Standaard reported on Tuesday. The growing numbers are not the result of vulnerable groups being pressured to choose euthanasia, as opponents of the practice have claimed.
Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 1 September 2002 for patients who are experiencing unbearable suffering and for whom no further treatment is possible. Patients must request it voluntarily and repeatedly.
Since its legalisation, the number of people choosing euthanasia in Belgium has steadily increased, reaching 3,991 in 2024. In a study published in Jama Network Open, researchers Jacques Wels and Natasia Hamarat examined the factors associated with this increase.
Cancer and multimorbidity
According to the researchers, the increase in the first fifteen years is mainly due to the integration and normalisation of the law. From 2017 onwards, the increase appears to be mainly due to an ageing population.
Most deaths by euthanasia involve patients with cancer, followed by a group of patients suffering from multimorbidity, or a combination of several, often age-related, ailments. In 2024, 72.6 per cent of people who opted for euthanasia were aged over 70, and 43 per cent were aged over 80.
Effective safeguards
The increase is not due to vulnerable groups being coerced into euthanasia, as opponents sometimes claim, according to the researchers. The number of cases involving psychiatric and cognitive conditions has remained stable over the years, as have the number of deaths in care homes.
"These findings suggest that the euthanasia safeguards implemented in Belgium appear effective, as patterns in euthanasia reflect the initial effects of legislation, harmonization across subgroups, and the impact of an aging population," Wels and Hamarat write.
© PHOTO HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
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