Lalwani Rekha, Kotgirwar Sheetal, Athavale Sunita Arvind
Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, 462020, India.
BMC Med Ethics. 2020 Jul 25;21(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s12910-020-00507-0.
Anatomy Act provides legal ambit to medical educationists for the acquisition of cadavers. The changing medical education scenario, socio-demographic change, and ethical concerns have necessitated an urgent review of its legal and ethical framework. Suitable amendments addressing the current disparities and deficiencies are long overdue.
Anatomy Act in India is a state Act, which ensures the provision of human bodies for medical education and research. The methodology included three components namely: Comparison of various Anatomy Acts clause by clause, Feedback from anatomists, and Formulation of comprehensive model Anatomy Act.
Various Acts studied showed discrepancies in the purpose of the Act, roles and duties of stakeholders, regulation for body donation, the procedure to handle unclaimed bodies, disposal of dissected bodies, etc. No Act defines a donor and neither addresses the issue of transport of anatomical material. Only ten states have a clause for body donation. Acts of only six states have been amended over the last 50 years. Three states denied having an Act. The whole exercise of review of Acts, extensive feedback received from end-users, and taking into account global good practices, culminated in drafting a comprehensive model Anatomy Act founded on ethical principles.
India, with the largest number of medical colleges, is not only at the forefront but also a hub of medical education in the Southeast Asia region. Legal reform can be a torchbearer to promote ethical and transparent practices for obtaining cadavers for other countries of the region with similar socio-demography and shall also motivate anatomic fraternity across the globe for critical analysis of their respective Anatomy Acts.
《解剖学法案》为医学教育工作者获取尸体提供了法律范围。不断变化的医学教育场景、社会人口结构变化以及伦理问题使得迫切需要对其法律和伦理框架进行审查。早就应该进行适当的修正以解决当前的差异和不足。
印度的《解剖学法案》是一项邦级法案，确保为医学教育和研究提供人体。该方法包括三个组成部分，即：逐条款比较各种《解剖学法案》、解剖学家的反馈以及制定全面的模范《解剖学法案》。
所研究的各项法案在法案目的、利益相关者的角色和职责、尸体捐赠规定、处理无人认领尸体的程序、解剖后尸体的处置等方面存在差异。没有一项法案对捐赠者进行定义，也未涉及解剖材料的运输问题。只有十个邦有尸体捐赠条款。在过去50年里，只有六个邦的法案进行了修正。有三个邦否认有相关法案。对各项法案的全面审查、从最终用户那里收到的广泛反馈以及考虑到全球良好做法，最终起草了一项基于伦理原则的全面模范《解剖学法案》。
印度拥有数量最多的医学院，不仅处于前沿位置，也是东南亚地区的医学教育中心。法律改革可以成为一个引领者，为该地区其他具有类似社会人口结构的国家推广获取尸体的伦理和透明做法，也将促使全球解剖学界对各自的《解剖学法案》进行批判性分析。
