Nizamabad: Government Medical College (GMC), Nizamabad, has seen a surge in whole-body donations, with over 100 people pledging to donate their bodies and around 30 already handed over. With a progressive outlook, several families are coming forward to donate the bodies of their loved ones to aid medical education.However, due to its limited capacity, the college has had to turn down some offers. Consequently, some donors have approached other medical colleges. Since its establishment in 2013, GMC Nizamabad has steadily gained support from locals willing to contribute to medical education in this way. Unlike private medical colleges, which often struggle to procure cadavers for anatomy classes and rely on agencies, GMC Nizamabad has benefitted from donors, many associated with Left-leaning ideologies. Noted advocate and human rights activist Gorrepati Madhava Rao, who promoted body donation, had his own body donated after his death. People from neighbouring undivided Medak, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts have also given consent for the donation of dead bodies. With increased availability, the college now provides one cadaver for every 20 MBBS students, offering practical anatomy training that enhances medical expertise. Dr Rachel Raveena, head of the anatomy department, said awareness around body donation was yielding multiple benefits. She added that cadavers can be preserved for over a decade using embalming, which delays decomposition while maintaining a usable condition for study. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, CPI (ML) New Democracy district secretary Akula Papaiah, who donated the bodies of his mother Mallavva and son-in-law Dayanand, said, “We performed religious rites but chose to donate their bodies for the benefit of students.” Due to space constraints at GMC Nizamabad, my mother’s body was sent to a medical college in Mahabubnagar, incurring extra costs. Increased awareness has also led to a rise in eye donations. After death, the bodies must be donated within six hours. Considering this, a few NRIs handed over their parents’ bodies to the medical college before their arrival to their native places. On the other hand, unclaimed bodies were also handed over to the medical colleges by the police. Compared with other medical colleges in Telangana state, Government Medical College in Nizamabad stands out for its high number of body donations and hands-on anatomy teaching.
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