RIYADH — The surgical separation of Tanzanian conjoined twins — Hassan and Hussein — was crowned with success after a complex operation that took 16 hours over nine stages on Thursday. Advisor at the Royal Court and General Supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah headed the medical team that carried out the surgery at the King Abdullah Children's Specialist Hospital in the King Abdulaziz Medical City under the Ministry of National Guard. This is in implementation of the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. A medical team of 35 consultants, specialists, and technical, nursing and support staff participated in the surgical separation. After the successful separation of the twins, Dr. Al-Rabeeah said the operation was carried out under the directives of the Saudi leadership. It marked the 59th operation under the Saudi Program for the Separation of Conjoined Twins that started in 1990. Over the course of the past 33 years, the program was able to follow up 133 cases of conjoined twins from 24 countries and has been successful in conducting surgical separation of 59 conjoined twins. Dr. Al-Rabeeah thanked members of the medical team for their great efforts and congratulated the mother of the twins and the Tanzanian people on the success of the surgical separation. Tanzanian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ali Jabir Mwadini expressed thanks and gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salam as well as to the medical team. He appreciated the Kingdom's generosity, noble gestures and initiatives, and its humanitarian assistance being extended to all needy people around the world. The mother of Hassan and Hussein extended her sincere thanks and gratitude to King Salman, the Crown Prince, and members of the medical team. She praised the Kingdom's great humanitarian work and the warm reception and hospitality accorded to them since their arrival in the Kingdom. The mother prayed to God Almighty to protect the Saudi leadership and bestow them with the best reward, and to preserve and perpetuate the safety and security of Saudi Arabia. The Tanzanian twins are two years old and weigh 13.5 kilograms together. Accompanied by their mother, the twins were airlifted from the city of Dar es Salaam of Tanzania on board a medical evacuation plane on Aug. 23. After their arrival, the twins were transferred to King Abdullah Children's Specialist Hospital where they had undergone the necessary medical checkups and examinations before conducting their successful surgical separation. It was found in multiple medical checkups that the twins were conjoined at the lower chest, abdomen, pelvis, liver, intestines, urinary tract, and have one male reproductive organ.
