Uttarakhand gov't to relax rules for availability of unclaimed human bodies for medical students?

The Uttarakhand government is coming up with a new manual for medical students, under which, unclaimed dead bodies will now be used for medical students.

More than 400 students are studying MBBS in Dehradun, Haldwani, Srinagar and Almora medical colleges, but MBBS students feel there is a lack of physical bodies to study the structure of the human body. In such a situation, rules will now be made to make the unclaimed body available for medical studies.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, State Health Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat said, "The unclaimed bodies will now be used for the education of MBBS students in government medical colleges in the state. For this, the government is considering making rules. Soon a meeting will be held with officials of Police, Home department, medical education department in this regard." 

Minister Dr Rawat further informed, "At present, there are five to six bodies in medical colleges while one cadaver is required for every 10 students pursuing medical education. To overcome the shortage of physical bodies in medical colleges, the government is making rules to provide unclaimed dead bodies. If this initiative of the government is successful, then the problem of cadavers for the education of students studying in medical colleges will be solved".

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Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dr Shobhit Singh, MD, critical care expert, shared, "Cadaveric donation involves organ donation, that is, taking organs (heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas) from brain dead people, as well as tissue donation, which means tissue from the brain dead as well as heart-dead people (skin, cornea, tendon, bone) taking."

Body donation, physical donation, or body discovery is the donation of the whole body after death for research and education purposes. According to experts, the body is kept safe with respect in medical colleges. Before starting the research and study work, medical students and faculty begin the experimental work with respect only after taking a special oath in front of the body.

"The police conduct an immediate post-mortem on the recovered unclaimed body and then wait for the heir of the deceased to arrive," a health department official told The New Indian Express. When the heir does not arrive, the body is cremated. Now the government is trying to make rules and implement such a system that the police should keep the unclaimed body without post-mortem and if the heirs of the deceased do not come, then the body should be handed over to the medical colleges.