Abstract:
Cadaver-based education is accommodated by medical
institutions with the hope of producing medical
practitioners with essential knowledge in anatomy which
is deemed fundamental to manage the clinical problems
in their day-to-day clinical practice. It appears that the
contemporary anatomy education of many countries is
in need of unclaimed bodies, despite controversies in
their usage, to meet the educational standards prescribed
by the medical institutions and national authorities.
Medical institutions in Sri Lanka procure dead bodies
for anatomical studies primarily, if not wholly, through
voluntary body donation programmes. However, the
Transplantation of Human Tissues Act (THTA) of 1987,
a Sri Lankan legislative act, permits the use of unclaimed
bodies for anatomical research. This manuscript aims
to review the procurement of unclaimed bodies for
anatomy education in historical contexts, as well as
regulatory and ethical dilemmas associated with using
them for anatomical studies, particularly in the case of
cadaveric dissection.
