University urges public to donate bodies for research and teaching
HKU launches a donation day designed to address a shortage of human cadavers that is affecting the teaching of medical students
The University of Hong Kong launched its first body donation day yesterday to encourage the public to help it deal with a severe shortage of human cadavers for research and teaching.
The medical faculty receives only three to five donated corpses each year. Many of the 20 corpses needed for research and autopsy training come from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department which collects unclaimed bodies of homeless people.
Chan Lap-ki, associate professor of the university's department of anatomy, said better economic conditions meant there were fewer unclaimed bodies from homeless people.
"If the conditions continue, medical students will have no bodies for use," Chan said.
The department of hygiene's figures show they provided 66 corpses to the two medical faculties at Chinese University and the University of Hong Kong in 2012, compared with 76 in 2009.
Chan said they had signed up 700 potential donors so far.
"We need a minimum of 20 corpses every year. Our body donation programme was launched 40 years ago. In the past few years, we have only received three to five donated corpses."