Jinja hospital overwhelmed by unclaimed bodies
Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda is facing a severe crisis due to a lack of mortuary space for unclaimed bodies. The facility is frequently overwhelmed, with bodies remaining for months due to bureaucratic delays in securing burial permissions.
Why it matters
The lack of proper infrastructure for handling deceased individuals creates significant public health and humanitarian concerns for the local community.
Jinja Regional Referral Hospital is struggling with limited mortuary space as unclaimed bodies collected by police from across the city and neighbouring areas remain at the facility for weeks, with some staying for up to two months or longer.
The hospital has capacity to store 18 bodies, but Dr Alfred Yayi, the Senior Executive Consultant, said the absence of a city mortuary and burial ground has worsened the situation.
The mortuary has three old refrigerators with capacity for nine bodies and three new ones donated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), also holding nine bodies.
“All the unclaimed bodies that are collected by police from around the city are normally brought and dumped here in our mortuary,” Dr Yayi said.
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