ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki on Tuesday offered generous assistance for the medical treatment of conjoined twins born to economically disadvantaged families in Pakistan, Pakistani state media reported.
For more than 30 years, the skilled work of surgeons at Saudi Arabia’s Conjoined Twins Program has allowed such children to enjoy healthy, normal and independent lives, making the Kingdom a world leader in one of the most complex surgical procedures in modern medicine.
The Saudi ambassador offered the assistance at a meeting with Syed Tariq Mahmood-ul-Hassan, managing director of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM), in Islamabad, Pakistan’s state-run APP news agency reported.
“The Saudi Envoy announced that conjoined children, referred by PBM, would be offered the modern medical services in a state-of-the art hospital in Saudi Arabia sponsored by King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Center (KSrelief),” the report read.
“While expressing his gratitude to Saudi envoy for extending such a kind aid for the poor populace of the country, the MD marked this initiative an imperative allowing the children to enjoy healthy, normal and independent lives.”
The development comes days after surgeons in Saudi Arabia successfully completed a complex procedure of separating Nigerian conjoined twins, Hassana and Hasina, at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh.
The twins, who arrived in Saudi Arabia last October, shared areas in the lower abdomen, pelvis, lower spine, and lower spinal nerves. The separation surgery took about 16 and a half hour and involved 39 consultants, specialists, technical, nursing, and support staff.
This was the 60th operation performed by the Saudi program for separating conjoined twins. Over the past 34 years, the program has cared for 135 sets of conjoined twins from 25 countries.
