Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who is also head of the medical team conducting the surgery, commended the king for his humanitarian gesture, adding that the king has shown kindness to many conjoined twins from across the world. The twins, named Zainab and Ruqiya, were born two weeks ago and are conjoined in the hip area, said the minister. They also have deformities in their heads, have separate upper and lower parts, and share pelvises.
The girls’ father, Naseer Muhammad Hassan, thanked King Abdullah for his generosity. “We have been worried about the girls’ condition,” said Hassan, adding that he is confident in the ability of Saudi doctors to separate them.
King Abdul Aziz Medical City has so far conducted 27 successful surgeries to separate Siamese twins from 16 different countries. Earlier this year, a 70-strong team led by the minister successfully separated two conjoined Jordanian twins at KAMC.
Three-month-old Jordanian twins Mohammed and Amjad, who were joined at the abdomen and chest and shared a liver, a gall bladder and intestines, were separated after six hours of surgery. Other twins have been from Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Iraq, Oman, Cameroon and Syria. A number of Saudi conjoined twins have also been separated at the hospital. Al-Rabeeah, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that the Health Services Council has completed a study on the allowances given to medical personnel, including doctors, in cooperation with the ministries of finance and civil affairs. “We give top priority to the rights and interests of medical staff,” the minister said.
He said efforts are under way to establish a factory for plasma derivatives in association with other GCC countries. The factory aims to make use of blood derivatives to treat various diseases. Saudi Arabia has been depending on donations for its blood requirements ever since it halted blood imports in 1986.
According to Dr. Ibrahim Al-Omar, director general of medical laboratories and blood banks, there are 252 blood banks across the Kingdom. These banks collected 416,000 bags of blood last year alone. About 40 percent of this blood came from voluntary donors. About 25,000 donors have been registered with Al-Omar’s department.
