Very few people want to leave life early

Geneva in 2061

Suicide has become very rare, and few older people ask for an early “check-out”, because almost nobody is lonely, without purpose or left alone with pain. The HUG-Centre, where people refuel on affection, plays a large part in this.

What astonished Verity the most was how radiant all the people looked. She could really feel their happiness and well-being, even among older people.The Grooters, Book 1, chapter “2061”

Geneva today

• In Switzerland, suicide has been the leading cause of death among people under 50 since 1990 (Swiss Medical Weekly, 2024).
• In the canton of Geneva, 1,286 people took their own lives between 1995 and 2012, around 71 a year. More recent cantonal figures still need to be obtained from the cantonal statistics office (OCSTAT).
• Between 2021 and 2022, one in seven young people in Geneva had suicidal thoughts (study in Swiss Medical Weekly, 2024).
• Among Swiss people aged 65 to 84, around 80% of suicides in 2023 were assisted; above 85, more than 90% (RTS analysis, 2025).

Where it is already done

• Bern (Switzerland) installed safety nets around the Münster platform in 1993. Suicides from that spot dropped drastically, and no shift to nearby places was observed. Securing such “hotspots” is one of the best-proven measures.
• Switzerland’s army reform (Army XXI) reduced the number of soldiers keeping guns at home; studies found a lasting drop in firearm suicides. Source to be added
• Finland ran a national suicide prevention programme from 1986 to 1996, and its suicide rate fell substantially in the following years. Source to be added
• United Kingdom appointed a minister for loneliness in 2018, and doctors can prescribe social activities (“social prescribing”). Source to be added

How far along

Research frontier Nobody knows yet how to do it. This is where research, helped by AI, is needed most.

The path to 2061

Milestones proposed for discussion.

1. 2027Geneva publishes a full list of public hotspots and secures them; the canton sets a numeric suicide-reduction target and reports on it every year.
2. 2031Every family doctor can prescribe social activities; mental-health support is available in every school; the first HUG-Centre opens as a pilot.
3. 2041The suicide rate is halved. Fewer older people ask for assisted suicide because loneliness and untreated pain have become rare.
4. 2051HUG-Centres in every neighbourhood; feeling useful in old age is the norm, not the exception.
5. 2061Leaving life early has become very rare, as Verity sees it.

What moves it

Human needs it serves

Open questions

• What makes people choose assisted suicide, and what would make them want to stay? A CHUV study published in October 2026 interviewed 30 people engaged in the process and identified six dimensions behind the decision; it is a good starting point.
• How can loneliness be measured in Geneva, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, so help goes where it is needed?
• Which mix of prevention, purpose and community brings a whole city close to zero? No city or country has done it yet.

Sources

1. Federal Statistical Office: Cause of death statistics 2023
2. CHUV: study on the reasons for assisted suicide (13 October 2026)
3. Ville de Genève, InterroGE: assisted suicide statistics, Geneva figures for 2023
4. Council of State of Geneva, reply Q 3741-A on suicide hotspots (2014)
5. Swiss Medical Weekly: burden of non-assisted suicide in Switzerland 2009–2021 (2024)
6. Avis d’experts: one in seven Geneva teenagers had suicidal thoughts (2024)
7. RTS: suicide among seniors, assisted or not, is rising in Switzerland (2025)

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