The use of human cadaveric dissection forms an essential part of teaching anatomy to health sciences students in Malawi. Despite worldwide struggles in acquiring sufficient human cadavers for anatomy education, the current recommendations on the best anatomy practices require the use of cadavers exclusively from the body donation programs. The current study aims to describe the sources of cadaveric bodies used for anatomy education in the Malawian context and reflect on the feasibility of using cadavers from the body donation program only. A retrospective audit of the cadaveric records for the 2006–2022 academic years at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences was done. The perceived challenges when sourcing the cadavers were identified and described based on the authors experiences in Malawi. The majority (97.3%) of the cadavers used between 2006 and 2022 were unclaimed bodies. The mean age of the cadavers was 45 years. Most (95.6%) of the unclaimed bodies were males. All the unclaimed bodies were sourced from hospitals. The body donation program in Malawi was patronized by populations of European descent only. Strongly held sociocultural and religious beliefs as well as economic reasons were perceived as significant barriers to acquiring cadavers of the indigenous Malawians through the body donation program. Cadavers for anatomy education in Malawi are mainly from unclaimed bodies, similar to other African countries. The authors support the transition from using “mostly unclaimed bodies (and, less often, body donation)” to using “mostly body donation (and, less often, unclaimed bodies)” through awareness campaigns that are targeted to address the prevailing challenges.

中文翻译：

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在马拉维获取尸体用于解剖学教育和研究

人体尸体解剖的使用是马拉维健康科学专业学生解剖学教学的重要组成部分。尽管全世界都在努力获取足够的人体尸体用于解剖学教育，但目前关于最佳解剖学实践的建议要求仅使用来自尸体捐赠计划的尸体。当前的研究旨在描述马拉维背景下用于解剖学教育的尸体的来源，并反思仅使用尸体捐赠计划中的尸体的可行性。对卡穆祖健康科学大学 2006-2022 学年的尸体记录进行了回顾性审计。根据作者在马拉维的经历，确定并描述了采购尸体时所面临的挑战。 2006 年至 2022 年间使用的尸体大部分（97.3%）是无人认领的尸体。尸体的平均年龄为45岁。大多数（95.6%）无人认领的尸体是男性。所有无人认领的尸体均来自医院。马拉维的遗体捐赠计划仅受到欧洲人后裔的资助。强烈的社会文化和宗教信仰以及经济原因被认为是通过遗体捐赠计划获取马拉维土著尸体的重大障碍。与其他非洲国家类似，马拉维用于解剖学教育的尸体主要来自无人认领的尸体。作者支持通过旨在解决当前挑战的宣传活动，从使用“大部分无人认领的尸体（以及较少见的尸体捐赠）”过渡到“主要使用尸体捐赠（以及较少见的无人认领的尸体）”。