ReviewBMJ global health2021
Ethical and sociocultural challenges in managing dead bodies during epidemics and natural disasters.
Review in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Anti-Black racism continues to undercut public health and pandemic response: A commentary on the mpox response in Canada.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Disaster Medicine Training for Medical Students in Lebanon: Quasi-Experimental Comparison of e-Learning and Face-to-Face Modalities.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Culture and pandemic control at cross-roads: navigating the burial guidelines for COVID-19-related deaths in a Ghanaian setting.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Palatal Rugae Patterns in Fars, Turkmen, and Sistani Ethnicities in the Eastern Part of the Caspian Littoral of Iran.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Death, Funeral Rituals, and Stigma: Perspectives from Mortuary Workers and Bereaved Families.Pastoral psychology · 2023Article
- Inequity after death: Exploring the equitable utilization of FEMA's COVID-19 funeral assistance funds.Public administration review · 2022Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perceived Quality of Palliative Care in Nursing Homes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Cultural Factors in Disaster Response Among Diverse Children and Youth Around the World.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCatastrophic natural disasters and epidemics claim thousands of lives and have severe and lasting consequences, accompanied by human suffering. The Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016 and the current COVID-19 pandemic have revealed some of the practical and ethical complexities relating to the management of dead bodies. While frontline staff are tasked with saving lives, managing the bodies of those who die remains an under-resourced and overlooked issue, with numerous ethical and practical problems globally.
methodsThis scoping review of literature examines the management of dead bodies during epidemics and natural disasters. 82 articles were reviewed, of which only a small number were empirical studies focusing on ethical or sociocultural issues that emerge in the management of dead bodies.
resultsWe have identified a wide range of ethical and sociocultural challenges, such as ensuring dignity for the deceased while protecting the living, honouring the cultural and religious rituals surrounding death, alleviating the suffering that accompanies grieving for the survivors and mitigating inequalities of resource allocation. It was revealed that several ethical and sociocultural issues arise at all stages of body management: notification, retrieving, identification, storage and burial of dead bodies.
conclusionWhile practical issues with managing dead bodies have been discussed in the global health literature and the ethical and sociocultural facets of handling the dead have been recognised, they are nonetheless not given adequate attention. Further research is needed to ensure care for the dead in epidemics and that natural disasters are informed by ethical best practice.
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