During a recent visit to Addis Ababa University, hosted by Professor Adamu Addissie and his team, Dr Halina Suwalowska from the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, visited the Pathology Learning Museum and learned more about its history from Dr Dagnachew Tamrat Belete.
The account below traces the origins of the museum, its role in medical education in Ethiopia, and the ethical questions surrounding the preservation and display of human specimens today. Dr Suwalowska’s own research explores ethical challenges relating to human remains in global health, making the museum a particularly relevant space for considering the intersections between medical education, history, and ethics.
Dr Dagnachew Tamrat Belete
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Addis Ababa University
It was during my medical school years in Ethiopia at Addis Ababa University, that I first stepped into the pathology museum in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital. I was fascinated to see specimens I could only see on textbooks at that time. This contributed to my choice to pursue pathology in my specialty training and to work in the same institution as an educator.
The Pathology Learning Museum was founded in 1974 through the financial support of J.G Shah, a Turkish merchant living in Ethiopia through the initiative of Prof. John Landells, a pathologist from the UK, who is one of the founders of the Department of Pathology in the University and served as the head of department 1976 to 1989. The specimen collection was led by Abebe Deboch, an Ethiopian histotechnologist. Department heads who followed him Dr Tufa Gemechu, Dr Wondwossen Ergete, and Dr Senait Ashenafi, helped maintain the museum in its service as the only pathology learning museum in the country.
Like other pathology learning museums around the world, the original vision behind establishing the Pathology Museum was to provide medical students and residents a deeper understanding of pathogenesis and real-world experience of diseased organs. Medical students had practical sessions and in the museum during their neoplasia module course. It had a significant role in training and examinations of pathologists, medical doctors in different specialties and other health professionals.
The museum also served as a repository for rare and unique pathological specimens such as conjoined twins, obstructed and perforated Meckel’s diverticulum by Ascaris lumbricoides, carcinoma of cervix in pregnant woman, gumma of the testis, and ovo-testis with embryonal carcinoma.
Carcinoma of cervix in pregnant woman 
Ascaris lumbricoides in Meckel's diverticulum
The collection of specimens discontinued due to lack of dedicated staff and skilled personnel for specimen preparation and preservation for more than thirty years. In addition, it was closed around 2009 and was only used as an exam office and for storage of patient paperwork.
While I was the head of Department in 2023, two clinical year students from the Ethiopian Medical Students’ Association, Gelila Seyoum Kassa and Biruk Zenebe Bekele approached me to volunteer in the department. They coordinated 18 students to help reorganize the stored documents in the museum, who later became fascinated by the specimens and asked about each one they uncovered. They reminded me that the museum is a very good tool to teach medical students and should become available for more students. Coincidentally, a few months later in 2024, I was informed that the late minister of health H.E. Dr Kebede Tadesse Belay included in his will, his wish to financially support this museum. His financial contribution supported the renovation and re-opening of the museum.
Inside view of the renovated Addis Ababa University Pathology Learning Museum
Ethics and responsibility
The specimens in display are de-identified and only show the diagnosis and a descriptor of the specimen samples to maintain confidentiality of the individuals. No records were found so far about the individuals who donated the items or about the dates of the collection of the samples. During the early years of the museum establishment, the specimens were collected from autopsy and leftover tissues from diagnostic evaluations relying on patient (or family) signed pathology lab request forms that included consent for tissues be used for teaching and advancement of medical practice by the hospital. This is no longer part of current practice.
Since there was a broad consent applied when collecting the specimens, we were aware that this archive could be questioned based on current international and national ethical standards. As a result, we had a series of discussions with stakeholders on how to best utilize this museum while maintaining the dignity of the donors, and respecting the culture in Ethiopia which values the human body as sacred. As these specimens still hold educational value, we opted for it to function as an educational unit open upon request to medical schools around the country while honouring the patients’ contribution to medical history in Ethiopia.
Looking ahead
Securing dedicated funding is critical to overcoming the museum’s primary operational challenge: the lack of a laboratory technician to maintain preservatives and repair leaking display glasses. With adequate financial support, the museum can employ a full-time professional to ensure consistent opening hours while simultaneously launching a series of modern advancements. These funds can drive a comprehensive stakeholder consultation and ethical audit to establish standard operating procedures for public access, integrate digital pathology to boost the collection's visibility, and reinitiate specimen collection under modern ethical standards to diversify this vital training repository for future medical students. This needs continuous discussion and oversight teams with involvement of stakeholders including but not limited to, the National Ministry of Health, Institution community leaders, religious institutions, the ethics review board and professionals working on health education. I am hopeful that this museum will remain open for many years continuing its legacy in Ethiopian medical education.