The University of Ghent (UGent) received 133 donor bodies to use for teaching and research in 2022 – a slight increase from 2021 but at the same level as before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The donors are mostly older people, 45% male and 55% female, whose bodies end up in the Anatomy Department and are used to teach students or to serve as study subjects for junior doctor-specialists. Sometimes, they are also used for scientific research.
"We see a slight increase. There were 133 donor bodies last year, in 2021 there were 120. Before that, there was a temporary stop due to Covid," Wouter Willaert, Anatomy and Embryology department head at the UGent, told VRT. "We are now at our maximum capacity, we have to make sure we can preserve the bodies and put them to good use... We are not facing shortages."
The number of donor bodies is in line with 2018, before the pandemic. It often concerns people who already have a connection with the University Hospital of Ghent (UZ Gent), sometimes by being patients there for years.
A so-called "body donation" can be requested through this website. People who apply are given a card to carry with them. When they die, the donation is arranged in consultation with the funeral director. A donor body can be used for up to two years, depending on how it is embalmed.
