Former Minister of Health Alex Segbefia says Ghanaians have a habit of Keeping dead bodies for long.
The comment comes on the back of the harrowing conditions at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital exposed in the latest documentary by GHOne TV
Lamenting the situation at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to Serwaa Amihere on GHTODAY, Mr. Segbefia said the problem exacerbates an issue that already exist.
“The Muslims burry within 24hours.In 72 hours maximum, the body is released to the family if a post mortem had to be done. You then ask yourself- What is the issue with our Traditionalists & Christians? Why do we keep bodies in the morgue for 7 years? Why do we keep bodies in the morgue for 15 years just because of a chieftaincy dispute?”, he quizzed.
Segbefia who doesn’t agree with building bigger fridges in the short term, believes the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital must review its pricing policy to deter families from keeping their lost ones for long at the mortuary.
“We are getting to the point where we have to bite the bullet and make some really tough decisions as a people, to reduce this pressure on morgues like Korle-bu. If we keep increasing the size of a mortuary, at what point do you stop? If you know Korle-bu’s rate are low, it behoves government to try and make sure there is enough funding from other sources”, He said.
He added, “ I think their prices are too low and for the length of time they keep bodies. Even with the numbers that are put there and what happens there, it is not going to solve the problem which actually exist. They have to change their pricing policy”.
He however implores the government to look to privatization as a stop gap measure to the congestion and poor management of morgues across the country in the longer term.
As to whether to privatize state-owned ones, I would say that it’s something that can be looked at in the future but not at this stage because the kind of figures and costings they will bring will make it difficult for our mortuaries or for a lot of people to deal with their loved ones adequately. But with the state of what we have, we have to be looking in that Direction Definitely”
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Emmanuel Agyabeng