Universities in Flanders and Brussels report a slight increase in the number of people donating their bodies to medical research: “We feel that the taboo is disappearing.”
A total of 460 people in Flanders and Brussel donated their bodies to medical research after their death last year, according to figures from the five Flemish universities. The number is a slight increase on 2022.
The universities of Leuven, Ghent and Antwerp each saw the number of donations rise in 2023, while the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Hasselt University both saw a slight fall. In total, the number rose from 454 last year. “We feel that the taboo is disappearing,” says VUB spokesperson Nathalie Vlaemynck.
Donated bodies offer advantages to students and researchers, for example in anatomy lessons. “A plastic model is hard, while the structure of a donor body moves,” says Professor Leen Popleu of UHasselt. “You can look under a nerve or move organs in the abdomen. These are things that would otherwise not be possible.”
Treated with respect
A body is treated to allow it to be used for a period of five years, for training or scientific research. They remain at one university throughout that time.
“Very often, the donations come from people who have a connection with the university,” says Professor Wouter Willaert of Ghent University. “They are usually older people, but occasionally there is someone younger. We’ve noticed that people often want to give something back, perhaps if they were a patient at the university hospital.”
The universities stress that they treat each body with respect and when a body can no longer be used, the remains are cremated and scattered.
“We are planning a monument to honour these donations,” says Popleu. “It could be a place where loved ones remember them and where students are encouraged to reflect on the donation of a body.”