Authors : Dr. Oviemova Nathan Agoro; Dr. Neola Adaku Ahuzi

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 2 - February

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/382sbdnf

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/mw75e2sk

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26feb315

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : The study is the first empirical evaluation of euthanasia requests in the terminally ill patients in Nigeria. A sample of 312 patients found that 18.9 per cent. had contemplated or actually requested euthanasia. The main predictors of use were severe uncontrolled pain (adjusted odds ratio=3.89, p=0.001) extreme financial burden (adjusted odds ratio= 2.76, p=0.003), poor access to palliative care (adjusted odds ratio= 3.21, p=0.001), and depression (adjusted odds ratio= 2.98, p=0.002). Among 178 interviewed physicians, 72.6 per cent of them said that euthanasia must never be permitted in any situation, and gave the reasons of moral and religious and legal reasons. Out of the 245 family caregivers interviewed, 34.7 per cent had a conditional supportive attitude to euthanasia with unremediated suffering. These results reveal some major gaps in the end of life care system of Nigeria among which are the absence of palliative facilities, insufficiency in pain management, and inadequacy in the provision of psychosocial care. The findings thus highlight the urgent need to increase the services of palliative care, streamline the process of pain management, encompass mental-health care, and carry out systematic policy debates to minimise preventable pain and encourage ethical practice.

Keywords : Euthanasia, Terminal Illness, End-of-Life Care, Palliative Care, Nigeria, Physician-Assisted Death, Patient Autonomy, Pain Management.

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