Suicide in Switzerland

The 2015 Swiss suicide rate of 10.7 (male 15.5, female 6.0) published by the World Health Organization is "age-standardised", attempting to control for differences in age structure for the purposes of international comparison.

In 2011, a proposed ban of this practice of "suicide tourism" was rejected by popular vote in the canton of Zürich with a 78% majority.

[8] The Swiss government in 2011 nevertheless announced its intention to seek a change in its laws "to make sure it was used only as a last resort by the terminally ill".

[9] Dignitas, a Swiss group that facilitates suicide, requires that patients provide specific doctor's proof and prognosis in writing specifying terminal illness.

[10] In January 2006, British doctor Anne Turner took her own life in a Zurich clinic, having developed an incurable degenerative disease.

In July 2009, British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife, Joan, died together at a suicide clinic outside Zürich "under circumstances of their own choosing".

The outright ban proposal was rejected by 84% of voters, while 78% voted to keep services open should foreign users desire them.