<<Print>>

Kwame Antwi was 36 years when he died at a prayer camp at Edumfa in the Central Region. When he passed away recently, his family did not have the means to hire a hearse to convey his body from the centre to the mortuary. They, however, managed to raise GH�170 to take the corpse to the St Dominic Hospital Morgue at Akwatia. Visit to the morgue Coincidentally, I was right at the mortuary when the family brought in the deceased wrapped in a white bedspread in a Hyundai taxicab which also contained personal belongings, including a mattress, sponge, bucket and clothes. I had gone to the morgue of the hospital at 3.40 p.m. to find out how common the practice of taxis being used to convey corpses to and from mortuaries was. The deceased had been seriously ill for six months when he died of a disease his family believed was �spiritually related�. "When he arrived in Ghana, he suddenly became so ill and had to be admitted to the St Dominic Hospital for a long time," his wailing aged grandmother told me. Practice rampant Curious, I approached the taxi driver who brought in the corpse to know how prevalent the practice of taxis carrying bodies to morgues was and the answer he gave was revealing. �It is lucrative to convey bodies to mortuaries,� Adotey said, attributing the prevalence of the practice to the absence of hearses in communities where people could barely afford their services. I again asked what steps he would take to ensure the safety of passengers who may board his taxi cab after carrying a body and he retorted, "I have made a sale of GH�170 and have closed for the day", making me believe he was driving straight to a washing bay. "I would not pick any passenger again," he swore and drove away. I deeply sensed the health risks passengers face boarding taxis, particularly if drivers fail to disinfect their cars after conveying bodies. The unpleasant experience I had at Akwatia was quickly followed by a similar one. This time it was on February 21, 2014 when I witnessed another episode at Okorase, a farming community near Koforidua. Rituals cleanse cabs When a farm caretaker, Raphael, died at Okorase, his family called in a known taxi driver to convey his body to the morgue of the St Joseph Hospital in Koforidua. Prior to leaving with the body, the driver advised that my friend be dressed as though he was seriously sick and placed in the middle of two relatives in the car. That advice was to help them escape police arrest. He charged GH�60 and took additional GH�30 to buy a bottle of schnapps and a fowl to perform a ritual to �cleanse the vehicle of any bad luck�. �If you fail to do the rituals, bad luck may follow you,� he told them. Children face greater risk Worriedly, most parents today engage the services of taxi drivers to take their children to and from schools, a trend that makes children extremely vulnerable to all kinds of health risks. �With the risk of contamination and infection, I now fear for my own life and that of my kids,� Mrs Emelia Anku, a trader who has engaged a taxi driver to take her three children to school every day, said. Ignorant of health implications Today, Ghanaians have been gripped with the fear of a possible Ebola outbreak given that Ghana is surrounded by four West African nations � Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria � where the infectious viral disease has reportedly claimed the lives of over 1,300. Usually, drivers who convey bodies barely use water and soap to clean their vehicles, come to talk of disinfectant. This is more worrying as fluids from corpses may seep into seats. If the corpse carries an infectious disease the consequences could be grave. �Very often, drivers are ignorant of the health implications such a practice poses to them and passengers, especially children,� a Medical Director of the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, Dr Kwame Boamah, said. �Taxis are not specialised for such purposes. Basically, families should come for their bodies with a hearse,� he said. But, according to him, many fail to go by this simple advice. To see what steps some hospitals in the Eastern Region are taking to curtail the practice, I travelled to the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital at Mampong-Akuapem and the St Dominic Hospital where posters warning against the use of commercial vehicles to transport corpses had been posted at the morgues. �We have instructed our morgue attendants not to release bodies to relatives who come with taxis and trotros,� said Dr Boamah, a sentiment that was equally shared by the Administrator of the St Dominic Hospital, Mr Daniel A. Bempong. Spread of infectious diseases �The practice constitutes a public nuisance as it could be a rapid mode for the transmission of infectious diseases,� Mr Bempong said. The views of the two health persons were corroborated by the National Head of Disease Surveillance Department of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Badu Sarkodie. �Taxis being used to carry cases of infectious diseases pose a big opportunity for the spread of diseases, and should they be used for that, they should be disinfected thoroughly,� he said. Practice done with impunity The unchecked practice, which seems to be done with impunity, must be curtailed before it becomes entrenched. It, therefore, requires the police to step up their game in putting a stop to the unhealthy practice to ensure the safety of people. The drivers unions, public health personnel and other stakeholders must now educate taxi drivers on the negative health implications the practice poses to them and passengers, particularly at a time when there is a threat of the Ebola disease.