Perspectives of religious denominations on body donation

South Africa is a multi-religious country with Christianity being dominant. Christianity is the most practiced religion in the world, with more than two billion followers and a multitude of denominations that vary in spiritual values and beliefs. The practices of Christians within different denominations in South Africa are diverse. If denominations vary in this manner, the possibility of...
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Ethical principles guiding human tissue research

South African Regulations[1] provide for the donation of a human body, tissue, blood, blood products or gametes from any person with the informed written consent of the person.  Deontology is defined as the moral duty to do the right thing and the moral duty to refrain from things which are wrong . Therefore, the ethical norm of human tissue research must be informed by deontological ethics. The...
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Exploring religio-cultural practices of body donation

Body donation is defined as an informed and free act of giving one’s body after death – this is generally regarded as an altruistic act. Several factors impact on the willingness of the public to donate their bodies to science. Included among these are culture and religion. Culture has several definitions such as “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious,...
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The procurement of Cadavers for research

Human tissue is instrumental for research in anatomy.  However, controversy and debate surrounding the procurement of human tissue have arisen in recent years.  Reliance on unclaimed bodies has been the practice in several countries whilst South Africa has body donation programmes where challenges nevertheless still arise. This has resulted in an increased awareness of maintaining high ethical...
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