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6 September 2005
BRUSSELS — There are 30 requests for assisted suicide lodged on average with the euthanasia committee every month.
However, commission chief Wim Distelmans suspects that many more people are undergoing euthanasia.
“If we compare our situation with the situation in the Netherlands, we can assume that the actual number of people undergoing euthanasia is five times as high or about 150,” Distelmans said.
Some 20 euthanasia kits are requested each month and four of the five requests are lodged in Flanders, the pharmacists union Apothekersbond and Multipharma said.
Both organisations are the primary suppliers of the kits, Flemish broadcaster VRT reported on Tuesday.
Since September 2002, doctors in Belgium have been allowed to perform euthanasia if a patient expressly requests it. The doctor requests the necessary drugs from a pharmacist.
[Copyright Expatica News 2005]
Subject: Belgian news