UAE people accepting mercy killing: Study

People in the UAE have started to accept the idea of helping terminally ill people to die, an act known medically as euthanasia, according to a study published on Monday.

Nearly half the 226 people surveyed by Twam Hospital in the oasis town of Al-Ain said they approve of the controversial euthanasia for terminally ill patients, Alittihad Arabic language daily said.

“Around 50 per cent of the relatives of terminally ill patients polled in our survey said they accept euthanasia,” the paper said, quoting Dr Saeed Abu Hasna, head of the intensive care unit at Twam Hospital.

He said the survey covered such cases as brain hemorrhage, advanced kidney failure and other serious diseases.

“We have presented the results of this survey to the competent authorities to debate them,” he said.

Euthanasia is the is the process of painlessly helping a terminally ill person to die. It is also known as assisted suicide or mercy killing.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.