Scribd
Upload
124 views2 pages

Position Paper UNHRC Greece

The position paper discusses Greece's stance on euthanasia of elderly people. [1] Euthanasia is currently illegal in Greece. [2] Both Greek law and the Greek Orthodox Church strongly oppose euthanasia. [3] Instead of euthanasia, Greece focuses on increasing access to palliative care, such as by educating more health professionals and investing more in home-based care.

Uploaded by

ihab
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
124 views2 pages

Position Paper UNHRC Greece

The position paper discusses Greece's stance on euthanasia of elderly people. [1] Euthanasia is currently illegal in Greece. [2] Both Greek law and the Greek Orthodox Church strongly oppose euthanasia. [3] Instead of euthanasia, Greece focuses on increasing access to palliative care, such as by educating more health professionals and investing more in home-based care.

Uploaded by

ihab
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Position Paper

Delegate Name: Shayaan Asad Khan


Committee: UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council)
Topic: Euthanasia of Elderly People
Country: Greece

The ideals of universal human rights are one of the most important political legacies of the 20th century.
The Preamble to the UN Charter additionally calls for tenaciousness to reaffirm faith in fundamental
human rights. The medical discovery of methods supporting euthanasia, however, puts those very rights
in a state of ambivalence due to the various parties involved.

In Greek Criminal Law, euthanasia means providing a painless death to those dying due to disease, injury,
or old age. The practice of euthanasia is against the law in Greece. In Greece's criminal law, there are no
special rules that say euthanasia is justified or even allowed. In contrast, the recent Act 3418/2005 (Code
of Medical Ethics) specifically states in article 2953 that even if a patient has the will to die and his or her
death is anticipated to occur quickly, this does not justify any action that may result in his or her death.

It is also important to note that euthanasia is not supported by the general public. It is abundantly clear
that the Greek Orthodox church strongly opposes any attempt to make euthanasia legal. Professor of
Neurology at the University of Patras, showed in a survey with 1960 respondents (physicians, medical
students, lawyers, and judges), active euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide have rarely been supported.

Supporting the cause for anti-euthanasia sentiments, Greece chooses to allocate resources for palliative
care instead. Palliative care is a very effective alternative to euthanasia and is legal everywhere. The
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), in cooperation with palliative care leaders and the Greece Ministry
of Health (MoH), initiated the process through the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance to address
the lack of progress on palliative care in the country. Currently, there are five programs in the country
offering specialized palliative care. Their combined patient volume is about 2,400 per year.

In order to close the gap of access to palliative care, Greece will initiate actions such as changing existing
laws that have not been implemented and could interfere with correct palliative care development. Some
of these provisions include educating a workforce of over 4,000 health professionals and practicing
prescribers, changing current health budget flows to invest more in home-based care, clarifying
regulations on controlled substance prescribing, creating a registry of patients receiving palliative care and
developing standards of palliative care operation and clinical guidelines for the provision of care.

Despite the arguments for and against euthanasia, Greece considers it legally and morally wrong to kill
any person, as it disregards the right to life of an individual and the value of human life, and considers it
a duty to look after their citizens in the same context.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Bibliography:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41824831_The_issue_of_euthanasia_in_Greece_from_a_legal
_viewpoint
https://ehospice.com/international_posts/greecefeasibilitystudy/
https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/58535.pdf

You might also like