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Sana’a, Yemen – The twin boys united in war-torn Yemen are in “critical condition” and need treatment abroad, a hospital in the capital Sana’a said on Friday.
Born two days earlier, “the two babies are now in critical condition,” according to Majda al-Khatib, director of Al-Sabeen hospital.
“An echocardiogram showed that each of the two children had their own heart, although the position of the heart of one of them is not normal,” he told AFP.
Newborn Siamese twins lie in an incubator in the children’s intensive care unit of al-Sabeen hospital in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, on December 18, 2020. – Siamese twins born in war-torn Yemen are They are in “critical condition” and need treatment abroad, said Al-Sabeen hospital in the capital Sana’a. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)
The “low capacity” of the facility prevents doctors from accurately determining “which organs are connected,” he added.
The Yemeni capital has been controlled since 2014 by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, fighting the forces of the internationally recognized government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The conflict has devastated already under-resourced health services in the poorest country in the Arab world.
Sanaa airport is closed to commercial flights due to an air blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition.
But Khatib said that “there is certainly a possibility that they (the twins) will leave Yemen to be separated if the relevant authorities cooperate.”
“This is important and essential.”
He said the Health Ministry was defending his case before international organizations, including the UN.
In February 2019, another pair of conjoined baby boys in need of urgent treatment died in Sanaa two weeks after their birth.
His plight had prompted a request for urgent medical treatment abroad.
The Yemen conflict has precipitated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
In October, the UN said malnutrition among young children in the country had soared to the highest levels ever recorded there.
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