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STADA Health Report 2020: Europeans don’t want to live forever; majority open to assisted dying

  • 30/10/2020
  • Information
  • 24 percent of 50- to 99-year-olds never speak about death

  • Just 16 percent of Europeans would want to live forever

  • 67 percent of Europeans can imagine availing of help to end their lives


Bad Vilbel, 30 October 2020 – Soon it will be time again: at the end of October and the beginning of November we celebrate Halloween, the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day all over the world. For a few days each year, death plays such a role as on Halloween and the following holidays of All Saints and All Souls' Day, when Catholics commemorate their deceased. But even these days do not lead to people dealing openly with death, as the STADA Health Report 2020 shows.

Discussing death? Almost one fifth of Europeans categorically reject the idea. Another 19 percent have not seen any reason to do so thus far.  In Russia (55 percent), Serbia (47 percent) and the United Kingdom (44 percent) death is never a topic of conversation for many people; but in Finland, this only applies to 27 percent of the population.

Sizeable differences exist in the willingness to talk about the end of life, not only between different countries, but also between generations – but those differences are not necessarily what one might expect: Only 76 percent of 50-99 year olds have ever spoken about death, but 89 percent of 18-34 year olds have done so. The younger, the greater the openness to deal with death. Europeans most often talk about the topic with their closest family circle (44 percent) or their partner (32 percent).

Live forever? No thank you!
While there are significant differences between countries when it comes to talking about death, eternal life brings Europe together like no other topic in the STADA Health Report 2020: Just 16 percent of all those questioned would want to live forever if it was possible. No country produced a value higher than 18 percent. Indeed, 41 percent believe the whole concept to be "hocus pocus". This is particularly true for people aged over 50 years: 47 percent of them do not believe that eternal life will ever be possible. However, a mere 34 percent of those aged between 18 and 34 say the same. One fifth of this group say they would like to live forever.

Europeans would consider assisted dying
Discussing death is not the only topic that divides Europeans – there are also divergent views on the subject of assisted dying. While in Germany 77 percent of people would consider taking advantage of help to bring their life to an end, just 42 percent of Serbians share this view. In total, two in three people, or 67 percent, across Europe support the concept of assisted dying. The main reason: imagining becoming terminally ill and having to live with constant pain.

In Poland and Serbia, one fifth of survey participants rejected assisted dying on religious grounds. Other reasons for rejecting help to end their life voiced by other respondents included the possibility that their health condition might improve spontaneously, and well as uncertainty over how their death could impact their family.



About STADA Arzneimittel AG
STADA Arzneimittel AG is headquartered in Bad Vilbel, Germany. The company focuses on a two-pillar strategy consisting of generics, including specialty pharmaceuticals and non-prescription consumer health products. Worldwide, STADA Arzneimittel AG sells its products in approximately 120 countries. In financial year 2019, STADA achieved adjusted Group sales of EUR 2,608.6 million and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of EUR 625.5 million. As of December 31, 2019, STADA employed 11,100 people worldwide.

Additional information for journalists
STADA Arzneimittel AG / Media Relations / Stadastrasse 2-18 / 61118 Bad Vilbel – Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 6101 603-165 / Fax: +49 (0) 6101 603-215 / E-Mail: press@stada.de