[Forensic medicine in Dar-es-Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania].

The authors had opportunities to visit and see the present state of forensic medicine in Dar-es-Salaam, a capital city of United Republic of Tanzania. In this city, Department of Histopathology and Morbid Anatomy in Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences is in charge of education and practice of forensic medicine. All bodies of unusual death, about 3,000 cases per year, are brought to the university mortuary and examined by pathologists. An order of forensic autopsy from the Tanzanian police is submitted to the department with details of the case, i.e. circumstances of death, witnesses, weapons, etc. In each case, a pathologist signs out a death certificate and issues an autopsy report which is standardized throughout the country. Embalming after autopsy is essential in a tropical country. Tanzania in particular, to prevent both putrefaction of the body and dispersion of pathogens during its transportation. Preventive measures against biohazards from human immunodeficiency virus-infected bodies are considered in the autopsy room and laboratory. Although Tanzania is one of the developing countries in the world, the forensic medicine in the capital city is rendering great services in the promotion of public health.