UK-based membership of the Swiss assisted dying centre Dignitas has grown by 50% in the last five years, new figures show. In 2024, there were 2,231 members of non-profit Dignitas (full name DIGNITAS – To live with dignity, die with dignity) compared to 1,430 in 2019. Membership – a prerequisite to having an assisted death at Dignitas – has seen a sharp rise, with 331 new members in 2024, and 372 the year prior, and has doubled since 2016. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision – both members of the UK Assisted Dying Coalition – have called on MPs to stop exporting compassion and allow for legal, safe, and compassionate assisted deaths in the UK as soon as is safely possible.
Other figures show 37 UK deaths at the Swiss centre in 2024, down slightly from 40 in 2023. 608 UK residents in total had died at the Swiss assisted dying centre by the end of the year, one of three clinics in Switzerland open to UK citizens. Last year the Assisted Dying Coalition produced a report detailing where in the UK residents have come from before having an assisted death abroad.
Dave Sowry accompanied his wife Christy Barry to have an assisted death at Dignitas in September 2022. Christy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had a clear and settled wish to die. Dave said:
‘Going to Dignitas wasn’t an easy option for my wife. Sadly, it was the only option. The additional stress and worry caused by the current legal situation was traumatising for her. Christy was terrified right up until the end that she would have her decision thwarted, by the UK laws and she felt unable to tell anyone other than a few people really close to her.
‘It’s cruel to impose this additional burden on anyone at the most difficult time of their life. We must change the law.’
Graham Winyard, Director of My Death, My Decision, said:
‘Every year, more people are joining Dignitas because our assisted dying law needs to change. These aren’t just numbers, they’re real people, many of them terminally ill, who want control over how and when they die. The UK’s current ban on assisted dying is cruel, outdated, and unsustainable. It’s time Parliament listened to the overwhelming public support for change and gave people the right to die with dignity, here at home.’
Notes:
Members of the MDMD team, as well as individuals affected by the current law on assisted dying, are available for interview upon request
For further comment or information, media should contact Nathan Stilwell at nathan.stilwell@mydeath-mydecision.org.uk or phone 07456200033.
Media can use the following press images and videos, as long as they are attributed to “My Death, My Decision”.
My Death, My Decision is a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering from an incurable condition the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members and supporters, we advocate for an evidence-based law that would balance individual choice alongside robust safeguards and finally give the people of England and Wales choice at the end of their lives.
