The Canary Islands Health Service processes 24 requests to benefit from euthanasia so far this year. He Canarian Health Service (SCS) processed in the first six months of this year 24 applications to benefit from the Law in the Archipelago. By province, the General Directorate of Assistance Programs has received eleven applications for benefits to die in the Las Palmas province and thirteen in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Of the total requests received until this month of June, fifteen were men and nine women. To these must be added another fifteen files that are in process, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands.
Increase
An increase in requests already exceeds those received in the previous two yearsbehind the approval of the law on June 25, 2021. So, last year the SCS processed 23 files throughout the year (one less than those recorded so far this year) and eight requests in the last semester of 2021 after the regulations come into force. In the last two years, 55 requests have been processed for assistance in dying in Canary Islands. 53% of the requests have been made by men compared to 47% by women. Not all requests end up being carried out, so so far this year the SCS has submitted four unfavorable reportscompared to six in all of 2022 and three in the last semester of 2021.
Regarding the benefits made so far this year nine people have carried out this measurecompared to 10 for all of last year or the three cases registered in the last semester of 2021. Since the entry into force of the law, 22 people have carried out the provision of aid in dying. By provinces, since the entry into force of the regulations, in June 2021, there have been 12 benefits in the province of Las Palmas compared to 10 in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. 55% of them were women compared to 45% who were men. The data provided by the General Directorate of Assistance Programs of the Canary Islands Health Service they do not list the age ranges of the applicants nor of those who carried out the demanded request. They are not broken down by Islands of origin either.
As soon as to the place where they were made these benefitstwelve of them were at the person’s home applicant in front of ten that took place in a hospital. To be able to donate your organs after carrying out the process is It is essential that they have attended a hospital. In the province of Las Palmas, 66% were performed at home compared to 34% who attended a hospital. In the case of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife the majority went to a hospital (60%).
At the national level
In these last two yearss 370 people have accessed help to die throughout the country. at that time over a thousand people have applied for an assisted death, although they have not been able to access the benefit due to various problems in the implementation of the new standard. According to complaint Right to Die with Dignity (DMD)the referring civil entity in this case, to which disparity in the application of the law between the autonomous communities In addition, there are requests that It takes even months when the process should take around 35 days, taking into account that euthanasia has to be submitted to a “responsible doctor” of primary or hospital care. This doctor must submit the request to a “consultant doctor”, who corroborates that the requirements are met: fundamentally, that the patient suffers from an irreversible disease, with intolerable suffering and limitations to his autonomy. And then the The Guarantee Commission of each community re-examines the case and provides or rejects its authorization.
More common diseases
Another peculiarity of euthanasia is that among those who have received help to die neurodegenerative diseases predominate (ALS, multiple sclerosis, etc.), while in countries like Belgium, Canada or the Netherlands, in 80% of cases they are terminally ill. He Cancer, for example, accumulates in these countries two out of every three cases, while in Spain only half had this disease behind.
