 "As UK votes on assisted dying bill, a look at Canada’s Maid law that accounts for 4% of all deaths")
Even as the British parliament is set to vote on the assisted dying bill that has split public opinion, the practice is prevalent in several countries.
Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, and at least 11 US states are among places where assisted dying is legal partially or completely.
In Canada, assistant dying is governed by ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ (Maid) law. Canada issued regulations for the same in 2018 after the law was made in 2016. Government figures show that a total of 44,958 people opted to die under Maid provisions during 2016-22.
In the annual report in 2022, Canada reported that 4.1 per cent of all deaths in the country were assisted deaths.
It is not just the percentage of deaths that’s high but the annual growth as well. The report said that the assisted deaths grew 31.2 per cent year-on-year.
Eight of 10 provinces in Canada saw a year-on-rise in assisted deaths.
Who can avail medically-assisted death in Canada?
People with underlying health conditions who have a foreseeable natural death in the near future as well as those without such conditions can avail medically-assisted death under the Canadian law.
A person can avail medically-assisted death upon meeting the following criteria in Canada:
Adult with decision-making capacity
Eligible for public healthcare
The request should be voluntary without pressure with informed consent
The person should have serious and incurable illness, disease, or disability — mental illness remains excluded until March 2027
The person should be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability
The person should have enduring and intolerable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be alleviated under conditions the person considers acceptable
Most Maid deaths among older men, cancer patients: Data
The Maid 2022 report shows that most of those who opted to die under the Maid programme (51.4 per cent) were men.
The findings were in line with previous four years where more men than women opted to die under the Maids programme.
Among reasons for dying under the Maid programme, cancer (63 per cent) was the most common underlying medical condition in 2022, which was an increase from the previous year (65.6 per cent). Cancer was followed by cardiovascular conditions (18.8 per cent), other conditions (14.9 per cent), respiratory conditions (13.2 per cent), and neurological conditions (12.6 per cent).
The average age of those dying under the Maid scheme was 77 for 2022.
Of those who died under the Maid provisions, 3.5 per cent of people did not have reasonably foreseeable natural deaths in 2022. Among such people who opted to die without a foreseeable natural death out of a health condition, such as cancer, neurological conditions (50.0 per cent) were most common, followed by other conditions (37.1% per cent), and multiple comorbidities (23.5 per cent), which is similar to 2021 results, according to the report.
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