Percepções sociais sobre a prática da autópsia: um estudo na medicina legal do Hospital Central Maputo, Moçambique

Abstract

A report was made on Mozambique 1 television in the morgue of the central hospital in Maputo, related to the conservation of the bodies and the delay in their delivery. In this report the relatives of the dead complained about the delay in delivering the body for the funeral ceremonies. Doctors claimed that all the corpses that enter that institution could not leave without autopsy and that this measure was practical in almost everyone. In this project, we intend to understand the perceptions that individuals have on the practice of autopsy and how family members of autopsied bodies respond to this intervention. In the interviews we conducted, we found that most of our interviewees do not know what the end of the autopsies is. Because the results of autopsies and causes of death are not disclosed the advantages of the autopsy are not known. For our interviewees there should be more disclosure by health services to clarify and talk about the advantages of autopsies. For data collection, we used participant observation, semi-structured interviews and informal conversations. Together, these techniques allowed the collection of information not to be limited to contact at the time of the interviews and allowed the researcher to collect information and rich elements for reflection. (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)