By: Problyn J Alpha
Information reaching this medium has revealed that the Koidu government hospital in Kono district is in dire need of help from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation as human corpses flood the government hospital mortuary.
In an exclusive interview with one of the senior mortuary attendants at the hospital, Mohamed Kabala Koroma who in the said engagement confirmed that the Koidu government hospital mortuary lacks spacious refrigerators to preserve corpses for post-mortem and burial purposes.
He maintained that the Koidu government hospital which is now a referral centre serving the country can boast of having only a four-body carrier refrigerator.
Mr Koroma stressed that the provision is limited owing to the operational areas of the hospital and therefore appealed for the provision of additional refrigerators for the sake of hygiene and respect for the dead. ‘Kabala’ as he is fondly called noted that dead bodies that the four-carrier refrigerator cannot accommodate are injected with formalin and placed on the bare floor at the mortuary.
According to him the burial of unknown dead bodies found within the municipality of Koidu which is supposed to be the responsibility of the Koidu New Sembehun City Council is most times not honored by the council due to what he described as an uncalled-for protocol.
The senior mortuary attendant revealed that amidst the numerous challenges staff attached to the Koidu government hospital mortuary faces, some have worked for more than ten years without pin codes.
He further expresses appreciation for the swift intervention of Partners In Health (PIH) and lauds them for work well done.