More euthanasia in Belgium than ever

Last year, 2,699 Belgians ended their lives through euthanasia. That number is the highest since Belgian legislation allowed euthanasia 20 years ago.

That is shown by a new report that was recently published by the Belgian Federal Control and Evaluation Commission on Euthanasia. While the number of euthanasia cases [dropped] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1098051/number-of-euthanasia-instances-registered-in-belgium/) by 10 per cent in 2020 to a total of about 2400, it skyrocketed in 2021. Last year, the number rose by 10.39 per cent.

This rise is partly due to the Covid crisis, Evangeliques.info reports. People could have postponed the act because the hospitals were very busy.

According to the report, most people who requested euthanasia suffered from an illness that increasingly caused severe disabilities, Evangelical Focus reports.

However, for at least 430 people who received euthanasia, natural death was not expected in the short term. That is a worrying development, Thimothy Devos, a Belgian doctor, admits, according to Evangeliques.info. “In the beginning, the requests came from seriously ill people who could not be cured anymore. Now elderly people suffering from AMD (age-related degeneration of sight) and incontinence ask for euthanasia. But these conditions are not deadly.”

Experts warn that the number of euthanasia cases might be between 25 to 35 per cent higher because not all cases are reported, Evangelical Focus writes.

About a third of the people who committed assisted suicide were between 40 and 70 years old. The largest age group contains people between 80 and 89 years old.

Most of the euthanasia was carried out at home and in hospitals. However, the number of cases in rest homes and nursing homes increased slightly.