This is the third report from the independent Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board. It details activity under the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 from 1 January to 30 June 2020.

The report includes details about who is accessing voluntary assisted dying – such as age, location and illness – which has previously not been reported due to privacy and lower numbers.

• Almost four out of five of those who died from taking the prescribed medication had terminal cancer. Others had a neurodegenerative disease, or other diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, cardiomyopathy or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Applicants for voluntary assisted dying were aged between 32 and 100 years, with an average age of 71 years.
• 44 per cent of applicants were female, 55 per cent were male and one per cent selected ‘self-described’ as their sex.
• 62 per cent of applicants resided in a metropolitan area and 38 per cent in a regional or rural area.