University Teaching Hospital management says dealing with over 30 unclaimed bodies every month is a huge challenge.
Hospital public relations manager Mwenya Mulenga said yesterday that the recent increase in the number of unclaimed bodies was also contributing to the shortage of space in the fridges at the hospital mortuary.
He said UTH disposes of over 30 unclaimed bodies every month and also spends about K7,000 every month to dispose the unclaimed bodies of.
"We have seen an increase in the number of unidentified bodies because of the so many unidentified patients that we have in the hospital that end up dying.
The unclaimed bodies are the ones that end up congesting our hospital fridges," Mulenga said. "Just two weeks ago, we disposed of about 33 bodies. There are many more that we need to dispose of this month. If we do not dispose them of this month, then the number accumulates and we can't allow that situation."
Mulenga said the high number of unclaimed bodies was contributing to the stench in the hospital and was also putting pressure on the compressors.
He said UTH was working with Lusaka City Council to ensure that many more bodies were disposed of as quickly as possible.
Mulenga said it was unfortunate that many families were neglecting their sick relatives at the hospital.
"When they die, no one comes to claim the body. One measure we have put in place is that when they are registering, they have to indicate their full physical addresses, but at times even if they do this, when their relative dies, they are nowhere to be found. They switch off their phones and when we try to follow them up; we at times discover that they have relocated," he said.
He said there was need for the general public to stop neglecting their sick relatives and make efforts to visit the hospital to identify their missing relatives.
Friday 21 March 2014
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