Forensic medicine in Nepal: Past, present, and future

Abstract

The practice of autopsy for medico-legal purposes in Nepal was started during the 1960s when jail doctors used to perform the autopsy. However, the medico-legal service in clinical forensic settings is less than three decades old. In Nepal, a police inquest is done for all the unnatural deaths who then subjects the body for medico-legal autopsy at the nearest government hospital. Except for a few hospitals where forensic medicine experts are available, the medico-legal work in Nepal is done by medical officers most of who have no forensic qualification. For a country with a population of nearly 30 million, there are less than 50 forensic medicine experts who are currently practicing. There are 21 medical colleges in Nepal each having a forensic medicine department engaged in teaching forensic medicine as a separate subject in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Currently, postgraduate courses are also offered in the country. However, there is a lack of uniformity in the curriculum set by different universities for both postgraduate and undergraduate education. Due to the lack of forensic medicine faculty members in some medical colleges, the undergraduate students of medicine have to undertake the exam being taught by some guest lectures and without witnessing a single medico-legal autopsy. To standardize the medico-legal services and forensic medicine education, the Medico-Legal Society of Nepal was established with an aim to conduct regular seminars, conferences, and CMEs and also various training programs for the non-forensic medicine experts who deal with medico-legal cases. This paper aims to provide a brief history of medico-legal practice in Nepal, the current situation, and future plans to improve the medico-legal service of the country.