Funeral expert proposes policy to decongest UTH mortuary

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 11:42:02 +0000

BY MAILESI BANDA

GOVERNMENT should consider implementing a policy that will ensure that people have life insurance cover so that when they die, they are transferred from the hospital to a funeral home to decongest the mortuary at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), a funeral director has suggested.

Heritage Banda Funeral Services operations director, Mr Aaron Banda, was reacting to concerns from Lusaka residents who appealed to Government to consider extending the UTH mortuary, saying the city’s population had grown and that the mortuary was failing to accommodate all the dead, leading to some bodies being piled on the floor.

A resident of Kanyama, Mr Chimunya Mweemba, told the Daily Nation on Monday that people visiting the mortuary were being subjected to a terrifying sight because most of the brought-in-dead bodies (BIDs) were piled on the floor.

Mr Mweemba said there was need for the Ministry of Health to urgently look into the matter of extending the UTH mortuary as visitors to the mortuary were often traumatized to find the situation in which their loved ones were kept. “Visiting the mortuary at UTH is a traumatizing experience because you will find bodies piled up and this is not good. The Government should consider extending the mortuary while they are working on the rest of the institution,’’ he said.

Mr. Banda said introducing a mandatory life policy assurance would be a cost effective way of decongesting the mortuary, adding that while the construction of a new structure would take long, a policy would be a quicker solution.

He agreed with Mr Mweemba that there was need for a solution to be found and effected quickly.