NGO rents 5-bedroom house for parents of conjoined twins ahead of separation
The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has assured that everything is on course to facilitate a surgery to separate conjoined twins – fused at the head in September 2021.
He said the government had made available funds needed to start the procurement of equipment and commodities needed for the surgery as promised by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
This sector minister made this known when he joined an NGO, New Africa Foundation to present a rented five-bedroom house to the family of the conjoined twins to enable them to move from Nsawam to Accra to pursue medical care for the twins. The house has been rented for two years.
He said a team of 166 local and international specialists were still engaging to facilitate the surgery to separate the twins.
Mr Agyeman-Manu also expressed gratitude to the New Africa Foundation for the gesture on behalf of the government.
Govt takes up cost for separating ‘Ridge’ conjoined twins
“What the foundation has done is a demonstration of how Ghanaians would want to care about those who are vulnerable,” Mr Agyeman-Manu said.
“When the twin were brought here, I had discussions with the Medical Director and his team on the needs of the family and the twins. The discussions included if a psychologist had been assigned to the family and the answer was positive.
“In order to facilitate their movement in and out of the hospital, we started asking where they lived and in our needs assessment, we had to put in accommodation because they lived in Nsawam. Not long after that, while we were writing to the office of the President for the release of funds for the medical team to do what they needed to do.
“The team informed me that a philanthropist had actually gone ahead to secure an accommodation for the family for two years”.
Recall
The Greater Accra Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Mrs Charity Sarpong, recounted the delivery of the first-ever conjoined twins in the head at the Nsawam on March 30, 2021, and how they were transferred to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital immediately for the necessary medical interventions that would lead to their separation.
She said since March 2020 till date, the technical team made up of specialists pooled from all over the country had been collaborating with international medical specialists outside the country in preparation toward the separation. “We hope to see a very successful operation,” she said.
