Understanding the Awareness, Perceptions and Religious Attitudes Towards Whole Body Donation in a South African Indian Community

Abstract

Body donation is the donation of a whole body posthumously for research and medical education.  The human cadaver continues to be an indispensable tool for the most effective means of teaching anatomy;  through dissection; in many higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa (SA). HEIs within the province of KwaZulu- Natal (KZN) experience a high percentage of cadaveric shortages compared to other provinces due to the lack of willingness of the public to donate their body. This has been observed particularly among the Indian population of SA. The purpose of this observational study was to explore the awareness, perceptions and religious attitudes of a primarily Indian community in KZN, towards whole body donation. Two hundred and fifty-seven questionnaires were distributed using simple-random sampling with an overall response rate of 100%. Levels of willingness for whole body donation were comparatively low (19.1%) for this cohort and predominantly due to strong religious beliefs, particularly among the Islamic religion (82.4%). 42.9% of Hindu respondents believed that their religion is in favour of body donation whereas 39.8% of Christians were under the impression that their religion is not in favour of body donation. It was found that marital status (P < 0.001), religious denominations (P < 0.001) and importance of religion (P < 0.001) appeared to influence  respondents’ willingness for whole body donation significantly. In SA, the levels of willingness for whole body donation continue to remain low for this population group due to strong religious beliefs. Hence, an increase in body donation awareness campaigns in religious organizations could play a role in increasing the pool of prospective donors in the future specifically in this population group.