Al Sabeen Maternal Hospital has held a press conference on Wednesday to keep local and international public opinion updated on the situation of the newly born conjoined twins.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, consultant pediatrician Dr. Najib Al-Qubati confirmed during the press conference that the preliminary tests reached by the medical team are encouraging and pave the way for the next steps to save the children’s lives.
The results indicate that the two children in this situation have a great chance to survive, he said, stressing that early surgical intervention is what the twins need to ensure their chance to life.
Al-Qubati blamed the United Nations, its organisations and the Saudi-led coalition for delaying the transfer of the children abroad and initiating the procedures for their surgical separation, noting that the medical equipment and medical teams needed to separate the conjoined twins are not available in Yemen due to the siege.
He said the Ministry of Health reached out to the UN from the moment the twins were born.
Al-Qubati stressed that the twins are an example of the suffering of thousands of Yemeni children under the siege and the closure of Sana’a Airport to millions of Yemenis.
Doctor Magda Al-Khatib, director of Al Sabeen Hospital, explained during the conference that the hospital has worked for seven days and continues to work to save the lives of the children according to their available possibilities.
“Our medical staff succeeded in reducing the substance of yolk that the two children were exposed to two days ago, and put them under constant surveillance,” pointing out that the hospital “uses the most prominent medical staff through communication with hospitals inside and outside Yemen, in order to give the children the necessary care.”
Dr. Abdul Wahab, consultant pediatric surgeon at the hospital, explained that the main combined part of the two children is the liver and the heart membrane, with two separate hearts and rib cages attached to separate chest bones.
“These two children quickly need a medical center specialising in separation operations and our work is limited to keeping them alive,” he said.
