Scarcely a week passes when a story of a terminally ill person seeking the ‘right to die’ hits the headlines in Britain. But now Belgium is poised to allow physician-assisted suicide for children of all ages and the debate around the world has reached a new intensity One of the most contentious issues of the modern age, the euthanasia debate involves the general public, politicians, doctors and religious groups. Belgium’s decision to allow terminally ill children to end their lives has aroused deep controversy but also focused attention on contrasting attitudes around the world to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Euthanasia implies a direction by another party that causes the death of a patient. In assisted suicide, the patient is given the means to take his or her life