adminWhinsley Masara Chronicle Reporter
NKAYI District Hospital mortuary, which has been dysfunctional for the past seven months, has become a health hazard, hospital officials have said.
Hospital sources who cannot be named for professional reasons said the malfunctioning mortuary was shut down for repairs in February, but the fault with the refrigerators still persisted.
They said fears abound that decaying bodies at the mortuary could trigger a disease outbreak.
“The mortuary has a carrying capacity of nine bodies but it often has more. The refrigeration system has been on and off for six years now,” said a source.
“In December, it finally stopped working. Repairs done in February haven’t changed the situation. Bodies are decomposing. The hospital is now forcing families to collect the bodies of their deceased relatives on the day of death to avoid diseases.”
Nkayi District Administrator, Lloyd Simba Takana, expressed concern over the delays in fixing the hospital mortuary.
He said the situation was creating challenges for bereaved families.
Moyo said the nearest mortuaries were at Silobela, about 80km from Nkayi and Mbuma Hospital, about 120km away. “Looking at the economic situation, it’s only a few villagers who can afford to transport the bodies of their loved ones to the distant hospital mortuaries. It’s too expensive,” said Moyo. “We hope some funeral parlours may help us to repair our mortuary. Something needs to be done with great urgency.”
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Siphiwe Makonese said Nkayi police were working under pressure because of the broken down mortuary.
“Our department is another sector which is appealing for help in the rehabilitation of the district’s mortuary,” said Insp Makonese.
“We’re facing challenges especially with bodies which we bring into the mortuary from outside, which need to be transported onward to Bulawayo for post mortem.”
She said it was difficult to transport a decomposed body for post mortem in Bulawayo.
Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director, Dr Nyasha Masuka, said the government was working on fixing the problem.
He said about $2,700 was needed to fix the mortuary.
“The mortuary hasn’t been working for some time now but we’re working on it. Maintenance for the mortuary is a Public Works duty, which we hoped should have been taken care of long back,” he said.
“However, I’m pleased to announce that on Tuesday we received a government allocation. We’ll put a great chunk of the money to rehabilitate the mortuary.”
Dr Masuka said most government hospitals in the country are facing serious financial challenges as treasury is struggling to meet the budget proposals presented by the health institutions to the Ministry of Health and Child Care. “The government allocation is meant to cover many sectors in the hospitals but we’ll make efforts to resuscitate the mortuary as it’s a huge problem in the District of Nkayi,” he said.
Online Reporter