A debate has emerged between people residing in Soroti town and the municipal leaders over the use of ambulances to carry dead bodies.
While many say they have no problem seeing ambulances carrying dead bodies, others are furious that it is not proper to allow the emergency vehicles to carry bodies.
Alex Oriekot, an engineer in Soroti municipal council, is among the people who are bitter about allowing dead bodies on ambulances. He says the practice is not proper. Oriekot said he recently declined to go on an inspection tour of the municipality after it emerged that an ambulance was the means of transport to the project inspection sites.
Dr John Bosco Ojur, the acting Soroti Municipal Medical Officer, said he was not sure about the policy regarding ambulance use. But Thomson Obong, the Principal Administrator at Soroti referral hospital said the policy about public health stipulates that ambulances should only be used to transport patients and not dead bodies as is widely practiced.
Godfrey Ouma, a councilor in Soroti municipality said that most times bereaved families put pressure on political leaders to use their positions to acquire ambulances to transport dead bodies. He added that many a time the leaders are forced to comply with the request of the bereaved families when approached for an ambulance to transport a dead body.
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Patrick Okello, the deputy Town Clerk, said he recently used an ambulance to transport a patient who had been discharged from the hospital but was shocked when the family welcomed them with wails when they saw the ambulance approaching thinking the patient had died.
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In Uganda, it is a common practice to see both dead bodies and patients being transported on ambulances.
