Deputy Health Minister Calls On Civil Societies To Help Retool Morgues Across The Country

The Deputy Health Minister and Member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe Constituency, Hon. Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah has called on all civil societies in the country to help retool government morgues across the country.

She made this call on civil societies when the leadership of the Mortuary Workers Association of Ghana paid a courtesy call on her at her office at the Ministry of Health in Accra to first of all congratulate her on her assumption of office as Deputy Health Minister and secondly to bring to her attention the code of ethics and the conditions under which morturary workers in government mortuaries at the various regional hospitals in the country work.

According to the leadership of the Mortuary Workers Association, Mortuary men across the country have been neglected for far too long and it is time government and civil societies turn their attention to come to their aid and also help improve the conditions under which they work.

“Mortuary men who work in government hospitals across the country are paid meager salary simply because they are not respected”, leadership asserted. For instance, a mortuary attendant or worker who has worked between 20 to 25 years takes home GHC800.00 as monthly salary, the leadership stated among others.

The leadership further asserted that, workers of the various government mortuaries across the country do not have casual and annual leave. This means they work 24/7 throughout the year without any allowance paid to them in forfeiture of the casual and annual leave. This according to labour expects is against local and international labour laws.

The leadership of the association explained that, they work under very poor work conditions; they do not have face mask, disposable hand or utility gloves to wear in the discharge of their duties which basically include handling of dead bodies. This implies that the workers handle the dead bodies with their bare hands without any hand gloves or face mask, thereby putting them at risk to infections from the dead bodies.

The bodies which may be infected with some diseases pose danger to the mortuary attendants or workers who are not resourced to carry out their core mandate. Several of the workers have become drunkards in an attempt to console or find solace in alcohol due to the poor working conditions they find themselves. Most of them die miserably in the end.

In a close up interview with the Deputy Health Minister and Law maker who was so passionate about the plight of the mortuary workers, remarked that the mortuary workers across the country deserve to be treated well looking at the kind of service they render to the public in the event of bereavement.

She underscored the importance of the mortuary and said, “ the mortuary is the place where president, pastors, ministers, legislatures and everybody are sent in the event of death and it is these same workers who handle such dead bodies; therefore they need to be resourced and pay well to provide good service” she stated frankly.

She confessed that she has now come to terms with the work of the mortuary workers or attendants. “At first I thought they were nobody and that their work was not important until I came close and interacted with them” she stated. They were the very people who took good care of my mother of blessed memory, she added.

She however, appealed to all civil societies across the country to as part of their civil responsibilities to the nation support government in its attempt to resource the various mortuaries with safety tools and equipments to provide quality mortuary services to the dead and the people who patronise their services.

She volunteered to lead a campaign to help retool the various mortuaries and also work to ensure that the conditions of service of the mortuary workers is improve as soon as possible.

She asked the civil societies to also help sponsor the mortuary workers to receive training in mortuary services abroad so as to equip them. “Whether we like it or not, we will all die one day and for that matter we will need the service of a mortuary attendant or worker”, she stated.

Lastly, she called on all who wish to support the worthy cause in any means possible to liaise with her to champion a course to ensure that the workers at the morgues are better taken care of in terms of salary and also provided with resources to discharge their duties without any danger or hindrance.