Govt refutes report of 980 deaths at UTH in three weeks

Dr Kennedy Malama Ministry of health spokesperson

Government has refuted the recent statement by the Lusaka City Council (LCC) that the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) recorded 980 deaths in three weeks.

Ministry of Health Spokesperson Dr. Kennedy Malama says the 980 deaths announced are not the patients who died at the UTH in three weeks stating that the University Teaching Hospital has recorded a decline compared to the deaths recorded in previous years.

Dr. Malama says Members of the public were not well informed and that the statement was interpreted out of context.

He says UTH did not lose 980 lives in a space of three weeks as reported.

Dr. Malama explains that the source of the information was the Lusaka City Council burial permit office adding that it is not a good source of information to link it to UTH because it gives permits to different individuals irrespective of where they died from.

He has told QTV News that the Ministry together with the Lusaka City Council will engage the media in ensuring that they give the Zambian people the right information stating that some statements are alarming the people when they can be interpret scientifically and made in way that the people can understand.