Saudi team ready to treat conjoined Yemeni twins

A Saudi medical team has offered to treat Yemeni conjoined twins following a plea from doctors in Yemen’s rebel-held capital for the newborns to receive specialist care abroad.

Abdelkhaleq and Abdelrahim were born outside Sanaa around 10 days ago and share a kidney and a pair of legs but have separate hearts and lungs.

The head of pediatrics at Sanaa’s al-Thawra hospital, Dr Faisal al-Babili, said his department lacked the facilities to treat or separate the newborns and appealed on Wednesday for help from abroad.

A doctor shows an x-ray image of conjoined twin boys who were born around 10 days ago, at a hospital near the Yemeni capital Sanaa on February 6, 2019. (AFP)

Late on Wednesday, the head of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Aid and Relief Center, Abdullah al-Rabeeah, said he had a team that was prepared to treat them.

He said arrangements were being made to transport Abdelkhaleq and Abdelrahim from Sanaa to the kingdom “as soon as possible”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Rabeeah said the team would study the possibility of separating them.

Health services have collapsed in Yemen as the conflict has ground on and most hospitals are not equipped to provide specialist treatment for rare conditions. Bringing patients out for treatment poses enormous logistical challenges.