Post-mortems in fields: Karnataka in a mortuary mess

There are nearly 53 PHCs in Dharwad district, of which 20 PHCs constructed 50 years ago have a mortuary room. But the new PHCs do not have this facilityShashi Patil, District Health Officer

Dharwad: Over 50 per cent of primary health centres (PHC) in Karnataka don't have mortuary rooms, which is forcing medical officers into a terrible situation of performing post-mortems (PM) in open fields.

For example, a medical officer attached to a PHC in Bagalkot district admitted to conducting half-a-dozen PMs in open fields in the last 12 months.

As many as 650 PHCs built before 1990 have mortuary rooms but are not functioning. The ones built later lack the facility entirely. Karnataka has a total of 2,132 PHCs.

The problem is stark in the North Karnataka region, where only one in four or six PHCs  in some districts have a mortuary.

In Belagavi division, 43 PHCs of the total 59 do not have a mortuary, while in Chikkodi division, 57 out of 80 PHCs do not have it. In Dharwad district, 33 out of 53 PHCs do not have a mortuary.

This lack has produced cases where PMs are performed in fields in rural areas. In some others, doctors shift the body to a taluk or district hospital for a PM.

Adding to the woes is the shortage of doctors and trained personnel to perform PMs. Providing training to the existing support staff could help, said a medical officer.

On an average, 20 PMs are performed in Dharwad district in a month for unnatural deaths and around 14 of them are done at the district hospital. But doctors at the district hospital are now insisting that the doctor from the concerned PHC should perform the PM, said DHO Shashi Patil.

“There are nearly 53 PHCs in Dharwad district, of which 20 PHCs constructed 50 years ago have a mortuary room. But the new PHCs do not have this facility. The Health Department is constantly seeking funds from the ZP for setting up a mortuary. On an average, one mortuary is being constructed in a year,” said Dr Shashi.

There have also been complaints from rural people of hospital staff insisting on bringing white clothes and other materials for packing the body after the post-mortem, in addition to bearing the charges of transporting the body to and from the hospital. On an average, this costs them around Rs 8,000.

But Health Commissioner Sivakumar K B said that he has not come across any such incidents. No matter what the situation is, post-mortems of unnatural deaths are conducted in a government facility, he said.

“The department has gathered information of 215 PHCs where PMs are done at the mortuary (from the total 790 PHCs including 24X7 PHC) in 15 districts in Kittur-Karnataka, Central Karnataka and Kalyan Karnataka regions,” he said. 

He further said that the department bears the cost of PM and it should not be transferred to the family members of the deceased.