The Anatomy Act 1977 (NSW) Dissected: Review and Reform.

This column discusses the Anatomy Act 1977 (NSW) and its regulatory environment. The column begins with examining the history of anatomy regulation in the United Kingdom and Australia. It then goes on to analyse the history of the current anatomy regulation in New South Wales, pointing out areas for reform.

Anatomy acts in India: a review

The paucity of human cadavers for study of anatomy by dissection and the dark history related to this led to formulation of Anatomy Acts in most countries of the world. In India too, almost every state has its own anatomy Act with variable differences in the acts per state. The objective of this article was to compare the Maharashtra State Anatomy Act which was the first Anatomy act formulated in India, with anatomy Acts of other states in India and to make suggestions regarding areas within the Acts that may need reformulation. Details of the Anatomy Acts from different states of India and articles related to them were obtained after a comprehensive search of databases such as Pubmed, Scopus, medline etc. The obtained data was studied and compared. The study suggested removal of "therapeutic uses of cadavers" from the jurisdiction of anatomy acts, and that all anatomy acts must allow for human body donation. While defining the unclaimed body, most Anatomy Acts failed to specify the time period within which the body may be claimed and also it was necessary to specify the age of person who may claim the body or give consent for body donation. The Anatomy Acts must make provision for transfer of surplus bodies from one Institute to another. The directives for disposal of the bodies once utilized seem difficult to implement in practicality and need to be reformulated to adjust to the need of the modern times. The authors appeal for formulation of a central single Indian anatomy act applicable uniformly throughout India

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Solving a problem by dissolving a tradition. Munich anatomy's body supply since the Second World War.

The system of anatomical body procurement had to be reorganized in Germany after the end of the Second World War. At that time, the country had been split up and, in its Western zones of occupation, which eventually would form the Federal Republic of Germany, a democratic form of government was reintroduced. While political and economic conditions were improving, well-known obstacles of sufficient body supply turned out to be increasingly complicated to overcome. This development led to the dissolution of the traditional system of body procurement which had, during the centuries and political systems, always depended on the state. From the 1960s onwards, it became solely reliant on willed body donations. The article deals with the question how this fundamental change came to be, and which motives and arguments on the side of the anatomists as well as the administration were crucial for the final decision of limiting body procurement to willed donations. Using the example of the anatomical institute of Munich University, it is possible not only to highlight the political process of dealing with the problem of anatomical body procurement after 1945. Additionally, the quantitative changes in body supply resulting from those developments will be presented and analyzed. Thereby it can be displayed how the dissolution of the traditional system meant the solution of its inherent problems.

Making the Ethical Transition in South Africa: Acquiring Human Bodies for Training in Anatomy.

While dissection remains the method of choice for teaching human anatomy, ethical requirements for obtaining cadavers has made the process of acquiring human bodies more strenuous for institutions. In Africa and at the School of Anatomical Sciences in South Africa, dependence on unclaimed bodies has been prevalent. The aim of the present study was to determine whether more rigorous application of ethical consent has altered the provenance of the cadavers in the School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. The numbers of bequeathed/donated/unclaimed cadavers received over the period 2013-2017, as well as their sex and population affinity were analyzed. The majority (96.8%) of the cadavers dissected over the period were from bequests/donations. Marginally more females than males were available. In addition, the population affinity of the cadavers had changed from a majority of South African African (unclaimed) bodies to a majority of South African White (bequest/donated) bodies. The study shows that even with ethical constraints it is possible to transition from the use of mainly unclaimed bodies to the acquisition of bequeathed/donor bodies. However, there may be challenges in relation to anatomical collections in the School as few of the bequest/donated cadavers remain in the School to be added to the collections. These changes also affect the demographics of the Schools' collections.

An overview of the roles and responsibilities of Chinese medical colleges in body donation programs.

The use of human tissue is critical for gross anatomy education in the health professions. Chinese medical colleges have faced a shortage of anatomical specimens over the past decade. While body donation plays an important role in overcoming this gap, this practice has only recently been introduced in China, and the donation rate is relatively low and fraught with a number of difficulties. In the past, traditional Chinese culture focused on preserving the human body intact, which often limited body donation. In recent years, the public has become more open toward body donation. At Nanjing Medical University, only 20 bodies were donated in 2001. After the university became involved in an organized body donation program, this number increased to 70 donated bodies per year (2007 to 2012). This article describes and reviews Chinese medical colleges as a special case study among body donation programs, particularly in terms of the multiple responsibilities and roles that such institutions must assume in the course of adopting these programs. Medical colleges in China must serve as advocates, coordinators, builders, managers, educators, and beneficiaries in undertaking body donation programs. It is important for medical colleges to recognize these pluripotent roles and educate the public in order to promote body donation programs. This case study may also effectively guide and encourage Chinese medical colleges in refining their own body donation programs in the future.

Review of temporal bone dissection teaching: how it was, is and will be.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to review the history of anatomical dissection, and to examine how modern educational techniques will change the way temporal bone dissection is taught to otolaryngology trainees. METHOD: Review of the literature using Medline, Embase and PubMed database searches. RESULTS: Temporal bone anatomy has traditionally been taught using cadaveric specimens. However, resources such as three-dimensional reconstructed models and 'virtual reality' temporal bone simulators have a place in educating the otolaryngology trainee. CONCLUSION: We should encourage the use of fresh frozen cadaveric temporal bone specimens for future otologists. Artificial three-dimensional models and virtual reality temporal bone simulators can be used to educate junior trainees, thus conserving the scarce resource of cadaveric bones.

[Gross anatomy dissection and the legal control].

In Japan, dissection of human body is generally prohibited by the Penal Code, i.e. the criminal law. However, the Postmortem Examination and Corpse Preservation Act allows for the dissection of the body in very limited situations, that include gross anatomy dissection and pathological and forensic autopsy in medical and dental schools. Growing numbers of co-medical schools have been founded more recently in Japan, and not a small number of co-medical schools try to adopt human body dissection in the course of anatomy education. The present short communication reminds us of the ways of thinking of the Postmortem Examination and Corpse Preservation Act and the Act on Body Donation for Medical and Dental Education in order that anatomy education in medical as well as co-medical schools takes place under the regulation by these two laws.