Pacific

Euthanasia advocate suggests Fiji open a clinic

15:31 pm on 24 August 2012

The interim Fiji Government is considering a proposal to open a euthanasia clinic where seriously ill foreigners could go to die.

Australian euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke has proposed what he calls a 'hastened death service' in Nadi which would operate like the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where about 1000 foreigners have died since 1998.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that while a handful of European countries and two US states have legalised euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, the Dignitas clinic is the only one in the world that allows foreigners to use its service.

In a proposal sent to Fiji's Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum last year, Dr Nitschke says the country could generate considerable income from a similar clinic.