Formal body bequest program in Nigerian medical schools: When do we start?

Human body dissection is a prerequisite for the training of health professionals and the conduct of medical research. However, most Nigerian medical schools experience difficulty obtaining an adequate and regular supply of human tissue. Presently, the major source of anatomical material comes from unclaimed bodies collected from hospital mortuaries. However, one sure way to ensure a regular supply of bodies for anatomical dissection is to establish a whole body bequest program among the departments of anatomy in Nigerian medical schools. If such a program were to be supported by an appropriate legislative act of parliament, the supply of acceptable cadavers for anatomical teaching and research would be substantially increased. The author advocates for establishing a whole body bequest program among Nigerian medical schools.     

International Statistics of City Libraries, 1976

Abstract

In the planned economy model, publishers brought out the titles for which they had been given permission in a pre-determined number of copies. Vendors were obliged to take over the publishing output and attempted to sell it. If they did not succeed, or had a loss, the state compensated them. The transformation of the Hungarian publishing industry and booktrade to a market economy model means a change-over to exclusively commercial relations, in which all the players in the market need to have their own capital or be credit-worthy. The increase in turnover, characteristic for the 1980’s, stopped in 1988, the reason being the decrease in the real income of the population. The number of periodicals published was also reduced. The proportion of political periodicals has tripled, with a decline in those of a scholarly nature. In book publishing the number of new titles has somewhat increased in the 90s, with print runs showing a downward trend.     

An examination of nigerian medical library service and problems

The history of medical librarianship in Nigeria dates back only two decades. The number of medical libraries can be counted on fingertips in the twinkling of an eye, and those that do exist have sprung up with the medical faculties of Nigerian universities. There is a general tendency to run the medical library as an integral part of the main university library, but where two campuses exist expediency dictates a separate library to serve the medical teachers and researchers. The acquisition problem of the new Nigerian medical libraries in a medical world centuries old is tremendous. Tight budgetary control, nonavailability of the desired literature, and transportation delays are the greatest odds the medical librarian has to battle against.