Most patients were suffering from terminal illnesses, particularly cancer. But
over the survey period at least 71 people opted for assisted suicide citing
depression, and 24 were suffering from blindness, the Federal Statistical
Office said.
The figures cover only assisted suicides by Swiss residents. Groups such as
Dignitas that provide help to foreign residents keep separate records.
Bernhard Sutter, the vice president of Switzerland’s biggest assisted suicide
group, EXIT, said the publication of the figures shows that the practice is
becoming more acceptable.
Sutter told The Associated Press that until recently, official Swiss
statistics listed those who died by assisted suicide as “poisoned.”
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