A number of medical schools have emerged in Zambia in the recent past. Of course one of their core courses is anatomy, which involves dissecting of human bodies.
Questions: How do these universities acquire bodies, also known as cadavers, for learning purposes? What is the law on acquiring dead bodies for medical study? What is the official Government programme on acquisition of dead bodies for medical studies?
I ask these questions because there is dead silence on this very important, yet very sensitive topic. It is seldom discussed in public yet things are happening behind the closed doors of medical lecture rooms. Dead bodies are being dissected for study purposes. It is a sensitive topic, yes, but the public is entitled to know the sources of cadavers, and must also in kind contribute to the success of the programme.
During the First Republic, there was an official Government programme of cadaver ‘donation’ which was in public domain. In schools, teachers used to invite persons interested in ‘donating’ their own corpses to register with Government. Government would then pay them in advance for the ‘donation’. When they died, their remains were immediately acquired by Government, as Government property, and donated to the only medical school at the time, UNZA Ridgeway Campus.
Perusal of the Government budget nowadays does not show any expenditure line for cadaver ‘purchase’.
So, how is Government acquiring cadavers for medical students? Is it unclaimed bodies, prisoners, vagabonds or what?
What of private universities, what is their source of cadavers?
How do these medical schools dispose of the bones and other human wastes after use?
This is an issue of great public interest which the public needs to be in the know otherwise posterity will never forgive us if we are doing things wrongly.
Elsewhere in the world, the legacy of secret cadaver operations has had a dark grisly past. Take the U.S for example, construction workers renovating an old building in Augusta, Georgia made a shocking discovery in the summer of 1989 – 10,000 bones buried in a basement under the dirt in the building.
The bones revealed a dark history – grave robbing of African-American bodies from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Markings from the bones showed that they came from dissected bodies, and the building in which they had been hidden was the former home of the Medical College of Georgia.
Known as the Old Medical College Building, it was used as a lecture hall and laboratory space from 1835 until 1913, and for these number of years, students learned about the anatomy from bodies of largely once enslaved black people stolen from graves.
According to accounts, dissection was, for the most part of the 19th century, illegal in many parts of the United States. This made it difficult for medical students to learn human anatomy, hence, colleges had to resort to the secret and illegal practice of grave robbing.
This was usually carried out by people known as body snatchers who were mostly slaves, employees, or even students of the colleges.
Such was the case in the Old Medical College Building in Georgia. Since dissection of bodies was illegal until 1887, school authorities relied on bodies from body snatchers and even kept one full-time in their apartment, according to Atlas Obscura.
Grandison Harris, a 36-year-old Gullah slave who was purchased by the medical college in a slave auction in 1852 in Charleston, South Carolina, was the main person behind grave robbing for the school.
It was against the law to teach slaves how to read or write, but the doctors taught Harris how to read and write because that would be very essential for his role.
Owned by the entire faculty of the school, Harris worked as a porter, janitor, teaching assistant and a body snatcher. With the education given him, Harris would read the obituaries and other death notices in newspapers to find out who had died and when they would be buried.
Augusta’s Cedar Grove Cemetery was then the main cemetery for black people at the time. If someone was to be buried, Harris would, late at night, take his cart, sack and shovel.
“He would quietly go into the cemetery and find the grave. He would look and remember how everything was and then dig down to the body. If the body was in a casket, Grandison would break into the end of the casket. Then with a firm grip, and strong-arms he would pull the body out. He would then put the body into a bag and load it on his cart. Grandison Harris would then put everything back on the grave, in its original position. People could not tell the grave had been tampered with. At that time, he would roll the cart back to the Medical College on Telfair Street. The bodies would be dissected and used to teach the students about the human body,” writes augustagahistory.com.
Even though Massachusetts passed a law in 1831 that allowed the state’s medical schools to acquire bodies that belonged to those who died in prison, the poor, or the insane, graves of black folks were still robbed.
It is not known if the bones found in the chapel that housed the school was reinterred. What is documented is that the bones from the Medical College of Georgia were laid to rest in a mass grave at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1998.
The VCU community created the East Marshall Street Well Project to encourage a continuous study of the remains.
Brilliant thoughts. I am grateful for your insights and detailed reporting. Yes, we need to know where our medical schools get their cadavers.
From money-making marijuana now to what? Get focused. Don’t be like HH who has nothing to really know him of.
Sinkamba need to visit a psychiatrist. His thoughts are becoming dark.
What was that last week about when he visited his relative in hospital? Hooooo yes it was about GIVING PEACE to the DYING. Now it is this about:
PF cadres stealing bodies from graves to sale to their private colleges.
@1.
How can you say he is brilliant, a man alone in Political party with best name.
Sinkamba is just a social commentator like me.
Well… Am your LT president!
It might just explain why the population of Zambia is in decline.
Come to think of it, my uncle disappeared around 8 years ago. I can only speculate how he met his fate.
We could actually donate these wild PF cadres as specimens to be dissected.
Please take all of them.
How much is one cadaver in Doller terms, if ones lead a low-life, better to donate oneself and eat in advance that suffering?
My Thoughts
Definitely we shall donate double h’s body for academic brain scrutiny based on his behavior.
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Serious note:
Calls for policy making. Great stuff greens.
But obviously we may have a glimpse of what could be happening. There is one thing I have lately stopped hearing from UTH though. Vis, lack of announcement on unclaimed bodies at UTH. Previous claims were that the council would organize themselves to bury bodies of unclaimed bodies. With the proliferation of medical schools, the greens are calling for policy. Policy bleeds politics. What does it mean when a body goes unclaimed? What does it mean when we hear of missing persons to the contrary?
Unclaimed property could also mean an announced missing property somewhere. People vanish in thin air. It is…
… spooky, isn’t? You got that right.
ignorance. Doctors all over the world train on cadavers. How else would they study the human body? on Rabbits and caterpillars?
I agree with this line of enquiry because in Zambia I have never heard of people donating their bodies for study after they have passed on. UTH or any hospitals dont advertise for bodies so how do lecturers and students obtain them? illegally? Let the government come out and tell us otherwise it is insincere
No wonder we don’t develop how can this man even make news. ….
Interesting topic Mr. Sinkamba.
I love your thought provoking debates Mr Sinkamba.
Ibange Mudala…Why ask LT go ask those medical schools because for them to operate and get licence these schools operate in hospitals for practicals
Thought provoking thoughts indeed….Brilliant leader
This is one thing I have not thought about
Very,very interesting. I previously thought Sinkamba is a chamba man, but the way he articulates issues including the chamba thing is very brilliant and interesting.
You call him all those names yet you don’t give your input on the subject at hand …what does that say about you?
@JAy Jay Jay, the guy was of course already high while writing this.
Well thought idea. Let’s get answers from relevant authorities.
Yes, we need answers from this administration but oh wait, they have no answers for anything.
Though provoking issue indeed!
This guy is very alert! Might be a case of too much data. Lol!! I like him tho, I’m a fan.
Probably they use government hospitals for practicals. I’ve seen students from private colleges doing their practicals at grz institutions. Overall the article is mind opening. When in Georgia I would like to visit this area.
Iwe Sinkamba, shut up!!! You should be more concerned about people who are alive than dead. Whatever the source of those bodies, the colleges are doing it for a good cause. Let’s move on to the next topic of discussion
Only when you see your long lost uncle’s corpse (the one you ignore) on the operating threater will you start writing letters to ZWD.
So what! If my lost uncke’ s corpse is being used to produce better doctors then I should be proud
Umwaume – you chaps just rant like BUFFOON CK without thought of the ramifications today he has been kicked out of the party he pretends to be a consultant.
Ooh ooh its February, black history month.sikamba be cham a ni phone
na sim card. How are those pf cadavers from sesheke.
Thats one problem we have in Zambia. Our culture does not allow us to question the status quo or things we do not understand. Those questioning risk being labelled crazy or anti-establishment. Be curious and challenge things you do not understand or believe, big up Peter.
Bahati is coming hope UpANdown cadres won’t disappear.
I can answer this on govt’s behalf.
The cadavers come from Zimbabwe mostly. There is an agreement between Zambia and Zimbabwe to exchange cadavers. Only ‘special case’ cadavers are studied locally for both countries. Special case cadavers are those donated by families, or when an unknown disease/condition is believed to be the cause of death. There is usually 2 consignments per year which range from 15 – 25 cadavers. The reason local cadavers are not used is to avoid bias, bias which may arise if a medical student or researcher found it was a relative.
I always thought everyone knew this. Don’t ask me how I found out.
Tell us how you found out
Where I am there is an annual service to honour those who have chosen to donate their body to medical science for just this purpose. I am considering this myself. After my death I will have no further use for it.
I love this man and how he organise his thoughts. Very brilliant and articulate. How I wish HH was like that, and UPND would have been a ruling party by now. Now Kambwili is following in the footsteps of HH in creating confusion in the country, we are in trouble. Intelligent Zambians are afraid of running our country affairs. They are just economic refugees in foreign countries.
this is a very interesting topic my presido
The man asks one generic question and already he’s branded as a very smart man and president material !! No wonder you elect such low calibre of leaders in Africa. I’ve heard young kids asking similar questions time and again and never have they been added onto mensa international!! Get a grip people!!
MEDICINE IS NOT JUST A SCIENCE BUT AN ART. IT HAS A RICH HISTORY DATING FROM LONG BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. FROM THE DAYS OF HIPPOCRATES, THE PRACTICE HAS HELD A LONG STANDING, NOBLE STANCE ONLY TO BE DIVULGED TO THE SELECTED FEW. THAT IS WHY DOCTORS SHOULD BE HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM AND RESPECT. WHAT THEY DO IS NOT TO BE PARADED IN PUBLIC AND DRAGGED IN THE MUD OF SOCIAL MEDIA.MEDICINE DEALS WITH HUMAN LIFE, HOLDING THE VERY SECRETES OF CLIENTS.
OF COURSE YOU DONT WANT TO BE TREATED BY A DOCTOR WHO HAS BEEN PRACTICING ON PLASTIC MODELS. EVERY YEAR THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF UNCLAIMED BODIES IN MORTUARIES WHICH GET BURIED BY THE CITY COUNCILS. YES THE COUNCILS HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO BURY UNCLAIMED BODIES THAT HAVE BEEN LYING IN THE MORTUARIES FOR MONTHS EVEN YEARS. IT IS FROM THIS SAMPLE THAT…
Chanda you dont even know the difference between a Science and an Art
-CONTINUED……….. IT IS FROM THIS SAMPLE THAT THE MEDICAL SCHOOLS CAN GET SPECIMENS FOR TEACHING PURPOSES, IN GOOD FAITH, FOR THE GOOD OF MAN AND TO PERPETUATE OUR LIVES ON EARTH.
MR SINKAMBA SHOULD CONFINE HIMSELF TO WHAT HE KNOWS BEST AND NOT TO POKE HIS N…. IN A FIELD HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT.
Mr sinkamba sir nice thinking but point of correction this institutions work in hospitals with theatres around and people doing operations in our are a lot because of unknown diseases don’t you think they learn from those in theaters??
Answers are needed here by government….. and medical schools please…?