Hyderabad: A serious shortage of cadavers (bodies of the dead) for study of anatomy has been reported from all the 31 medical colleges including 11 government-run establishments in Andhra Pradesh. The shortage has been attributed to the Covid19 pandemic in the last two years.
As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, 10 MBBS students must have at least one cadaver for study. At present, some 25 to 30 students share one body.
Colleges are managing with the available cadavers. There are only online classes and practical sessions are temporarily halted due to the pandemic. If the shortage continues, this will seriously affect the studies of medical students from the coming academic year.
When Deccan Chronicle made enquiries, the Andhra Medical College (AMC) at Vizag said it has received only three bodies this year, against receipt of nine in 2020 and 20 in 2019.
"We have a strength of 250 MBBS students. The maximum lifespan of a body for a full study will be a year to 18 months. After that, we bury it. It is necessary to draw up guidelines for resumption of body donations," a doctor at AMC said.
A forensic department professor at a government medical college in Tirupati said people are afraid of donating the bodies of their relatives for medical colleges during the pandemic period. Also, a lengthy procedure has to be followed to accept such bodies.
A private medical college functionary in Krishna district said, "We managed to get two bodies during the first wave, but not a single body in the second wave.”
AMC principal Dr Sudhakar said the medical college cannot take cadavers for dissection without adoption of safety norms. Covid19 tests must be conducted on bodies before accepting them. We hope to get cadavers once this pandemic situation is brought under control.”
