Traditional leaders reject university’s body donation call

Traditional and religious leaders say they do not support the call by the University of Namibia (UNAM) for Namibians to donate their bodies for medical research. It is a taboo, they say. Both traditional leaders and clerics say donating bodies contradicts deeply rooted cultural beliefs about death, burial and the afterlife, write Puyeipawa Nakashole and Matthew Palata for The Namibian.

UNAM says 11 individuals have pledged to donate their bodies for medical research and teaching purposes.

Ovaherero traditional official Tjizapouzeu Uahupirapi says body donations could interfere with a deceased person’s transition to becoming an ancestor. “When people die, they become ancestors. Not burying them and donating them to the UNAM School of Medicine would, I guess, stop them from becoming ancestors or from fulfilling their duties after death,” he says.
Full report on The Namibian site