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.’
Richy Thompson, Director of Public Affairs and Policy at Humanists UK, said:
‘The surge in UK-based Dignitas membership reflects a growing number of people who feel the current law does not meet their needs at the end of life. These are individuals who are suffering and making deeply personal decisions in the absence of a legal, safeguarded option at home. Sadly, with the delay to the latest possible implementation of England and Wales’s bill, more people look set to join them.
‘The law must change. We need a safe, legal, and compassionate assisted dying system in the UK as soon as is safely possible, so no one has to make that journey ever again.’
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
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Assisted Dying Campaigner Nathan Stilwell at nathan@humanists.uk or phone 07456200033 (media enquiries only).
Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision have people and their loved ones who would be affected by this change available for the press.
Media can use the following press images and videos, as long as they are attributed to ‘Humanists UK’.
If you have been affected by the current assisted dying legislation, and want to use your story to support a change in the law, please email campaigns@humanists.uk.
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 130,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.
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.
Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision are both members of the Assisted Dying Coalition, along with Friends at the End, Humanist Society Scotland, and End of Life Choices Jersey.