AsiaNews.it

Bangkok: Catholic physician calls for organ donations to help medicine

by Weena Kowitwanij
A neurosurgeon at Mahidol University also pleads with people to leave their bodies for medical research after death. The aim is to improve students' practical skills in surgery and ensure the growth of the medical industry. In Asia, practical and cultural factors prevent significant blood and organ donations.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) - A Catholic doctor is asking people to donate their bodies to medical science. By honing their skills on dead bodies, medical students can improve their training and save lives. This is especially true for would-be surgeons whose formal training with books and online material would be inadequate were it not for hands-on practical experience.

Dr Sorayugh Chamnanwej, a neurosurgeon at Ramathibodee Hospital, Mahidol University (Bangkok), has recently sent a letter to colleagues and scholars in the Department of Medicine, highlighting the difficulties in preparing students, in particular, in the School of Surgery, which needs extensive training in fields of anatomy and pathological physiology.

Together with the dissemination of knowledge, made easier by modern media, the doctor stressed the importance of hands-on experience in the field or on operating tables, for students.

For this reason, the neurosurgeon hopes that more and more people will donate their bodies to science.

To this effect, he highlighted the importance of the Clinical Anatomy and Research Education Laboratory or CARE Lab set up by the Medical Department, Ramathibodee Hospital, Mahidol University, a facility designed to help 4^th, 5^th and 6^th year medical students hone their surgical skills on cadavers donated to science.

"As a sign of respect, a crown of flowers and wreaths are place on the body before it is prepared for the operating table," the doctor said. "The end of one life thus marks the beginning of new life [. . .] by enabling [surgeons] to save the life of many patients."

In general, Asian populations are reluctant to donate blood, organs or their bodies to science or to save lives. However, there has been increased awareness in recent years thanks to the work of prominent Asian figures, including some Catholics, like the late Card Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, who served for a long time as archbishop of Seoul (South Korea).

In Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation, the Church launched a campaign last year in favour of blood and organ donation in conjunction with the holy month of Ramadan.