play videoFile photo of a deceased person in a morgue
For a place where dead bodies are kept before burial, many would expect it to be kept under the best hygienic conditions but this is not the case at the mortuary of Ghana’s premier hospital.
According to a GHOne TV investigation, some workers have been faced with rather difficult and unhealthy conditions working in the morgue.
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Read full articledirty floors, decayed dead bodies, stinking gutters, lack of protective gear and a generally bad atmosphere, mortuary workers at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital have had to, over the years, carry out their duties on rather dangerous grounds.
Director of Metro Public Health at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Florence Kuchi told the Accra-based TV station the situation at the morgue was extremely disturbing.
“Working in the morgue has become dangerous because they are not properly protected and a lot of communicable diseases can be transferred from a deceased person to another and it will interest you to note that some of the workers at the morgue do not even use proper detergents to wash their hands,” she expressed.
The Acting Director of the Mortuaries and Funeral Agency, which is mandated to ensure the proper functioning of the mortuaries in the country, corroborated the disturbing working conditions of the mortuary workers.
Emmanuel Okyere said the agency is rather helpless but frantic efforts are being made to ensure the working conditions improve.
“We’re bedevilled with the usual challenges which come with every facility like this. Principally we’re looking at issues relating to financing,” he stated.
Meanwhile, some current and former workers of the morgue have bemoaned the issue of stigmatization that has characterized their work.
They say, despite the poor working conditions and meagre financial remuneration, they have been judged and maligned over their work.
