KCH mortuary closed: Bodies left to rot in hospital
The mortuary at a major referral in the capital Lilongwe, Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) has been closed down due to “fridge failure”, Nyasa Times understands.
Hospital authorities said only one cold-room is working and cannot accommodate all dead bodies. Reports indicate that the mortuary is now full since the other three cold rooms are broken down.
KCH is one of the public health facilities which have been facing problems ranging from shortage of medical equipment to strike by staff of the hospital in protest over the same.
Lack of medication and proper treatment has also triggered more deaths with the average being 17 people passing on per day.
Human rights campaigners have expressed concern with the height of the degeneration of public hospitals and clinics.
The closure of mortuary has also been described as shocking and completely unacceptable.
“Families and grieving relatives should never face this kind of indignity,” said one hospital worker at KCH.
A nurse at KCH who spoke to Nyasa Times on condition of anonymity said she now feels like “a mortuary attendant” because many people are dying around her every day, even though in some of the cases, the deaths could have been avoided.
She said he hospital has become a place where people come to prepare for death, rather than being saved.
