12 May 2014

A pathologist at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital has said structural conditions of the mortuary pose a danger to employees.

Speaking at the health standards awareness campaign in Francistown on May 9, Dr Vidushi Madam said they did not have ventilation in their mortuary theatre; hence they could be easily affected by the stench from the deceased bodies.



She appealed to the Ministry of Health to ban the postmortem of corpses, whose death was caused by highly infectious diseases, saying that they did not have specialised knowledge and qualification to operate those kinds of corpses.



She also stated that she was the only pathologist working in the northern region, which clearly showed that they were having a problem in their department.

The pathologist noted that she does not have qualified mortuary technicians that can help her with their mortuary daily operations.

 Dr Madam said currently she works with five attendants in the mortuary who do not have any qualification as mortuary personnel.

She said their working condition is unpleasant because sometimes they receive un-named corpses from different departments within the hospital.


Furthermore, she said the ministry‘s provision of health standards guidelines will not help them as they are very far in meeting the requirements needed.



She also said they are faced with congestion of corpses in their mortuary, which sometimes force them to outsource to private mortuaries or force the families of the deceased to take their corpse before time.



Dr Madam said they are currently no safety showers and safety equipment that could help them to perform their duties efficiently. 
 She further said that their lives are at risk in the mortuary because they are working under unmaintained health facilities that are too old.


The pathologist pleaded with the ministry to consider their current situation because the Nyangabgwe hospital attends to a large number of patients. Ends