[Safe management of COVID-19 dead bodies in sub-Saharan Africa: could families be allowed to bury their dead?] / Gestion sécurisée des dépouilles de personnes décédées de la COVID-19 en Afrique sub-Saharienne: et si on laissait les familles enterrer leurs morts?

Sub-Saharan African countries have been hit by the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic (COVID-19) since March 2020. Besides the resulting health and economic disasters is the psycho-socio-cultural problem related with the management of corpses of people dead from the disease, which might hinder the implementation of the response strategy. In Cameroon for instance, the current corpse management policy is very disputed. In fact, although they were recently made more flexible, the restrictions applied to burials still ban any transfer of dead bodies between cities. In light of the African cultural considerations of dead persons, the disputes observed between the families and the health personnel, the legislation and the available scientific evidence, this article analyses the risks and benefits of allowing families to bury their relatives. It thereafter suggests solutions that reconcile dignity (by allowing families to bury their dead relatives in their homes) and safety (by ensuring a sealed handling and the surveillance by a judiciary police officer). Applying these solutions could improve the population's trust towards the health system, and positively contribute to COVID-19 case prevention, identification and management.

Ethical considerations in forensic genetics research on tissue samples collected post-mortem in Cape Town, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: The use of tissue collected at a forensic post-mortem for forensic genetics research purposes remains of ethical concern as the process involves obtaining informed consent from grieving family members. Two forensic genetics research studies using tissue collected from a forensic post-mortem were recently initiated at our institution and were the first of their kind to be conducted in Cape Town, South Africa. MAIN BODY: This article discusses some of the ethical challenges that were encountered in these research projects. Among these challenges was the adaptation of research workflows to fit in with an exceptionally busy service delivery that is operating with limited resources. Whilst seeking guidance from the literature regarding research on deceased populations, it was noted that next of kin of decedents are not formally recognised as a vulnerable group in the existing ethical and legal frameworks in South Africa. The authors recommend that research in the forensic mortuary setting is approached using guidance for vulnerable groups, and the benefit to risk standard needs to be strongly justified. Lastly, when planning forensic genetics research, consideration must be given to the potential of uncovering incidental findings, funding to validate these findings and the feedback of results to family members; the latter of which is recommended to occur through a genetic counsellor. CONCLUSION: It is hoped that these experiences will contribute towards a formal framework for conducting forensic genetic research in medico-legal mortuaries in South Africa.

Current status of memorial services for laboratory animals in Japan: a questionnaire survey.

In this study, we found that almost all institutions conducting animal experiments, such as universities, corporations, and research laboratories, also conducted memorial services for the animals sacrificed during animal experimentation. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 120 institutions. A total of 83 (69.1%) valid responses were obtained from the participating institutions. Memorial services were held at 79 institutions (95.1%). Memorial services for laboratory animals have been mainly conducted to show appreciation, comfort the spirit, and console the souls.

Trabalhadores da morte: dilemas éticos / Death workers: ethical dilemmas

Este artigo apresenta o serviço funerário do Município de São Paulo e relata a vivência do trabalho, pelos seus servidores deste estabelecimento, ao longo dos tempos e as diversas impressões percebidas junto aos familiares no momento da despedida de seus entes queridos

This article presents the funeral service of São Paulo and reports the experience of the work, its servers at this establishment, over time and the various impressions perceived with relatives at the time of parting from loved ones

Research participation experiences of informants of suicide and control cases: taken from a case-control psychological autopsy study of people who died by suicide.

BACKGROUND: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. AIMS: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners' court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the initial contact by the research team. (2) To explore the reactions, reasons for participation, and comments of both the informants of suicide and control cases to psychological autopsy interviews. (3) To investigate the impact of the interviews on informants of suicide cases about a month after the interviews. METHODS: A self-report questionnaire was used for the informants of both suicide and control cases. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted with the informants of suicide cases. RESULTS: The majority of the informants of suicide cases, regardless of the initial route of contact, as well as the control cases were positive about being approached to take part in the study. A minority of informants of suicide and control cases found the experience of talking about their family member to be more upsetting than expected. The telephone follow-up interviews showed that none of the informants of suicide cases reported being distressed by the psychological autopsy interviews. LIMITATIONS: The acceptance rate for our original psychological autopsy study was modest. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study are useful for future participants and researchers in measuring the potential benefits and risks of participating in similar sensitive research. Psychological autopsy interviews may be utilized as an active engagement approach to reach out to the people bereaved by suicide, especially in places where the postvention work is underdeveloped.