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Ammon News -

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) evacuated Yemeni conjoined twins to Jordan to seek specialized medical care and undergo a surgery to separate them, to be performed after evaluating their condition.

The twins were born in mid-December 2020 in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, to a 35-year-old mother and a family who depend for their livelihood on working as street vendors in a market in Sana'a, UNICEF said Saturday in a statement.

According to the UNICEF, doctors at the Seventieth Children's Hospital, as well as the health authorities in Sana'a, issued an urgent appeal to provide assistance to perform the separation surgery for the twins and save their lives, noting that the twins left today on a medical evacuation plane, accompanied by their parents, to Amman.

UNICEF Representative in Yemen Philippe Duamelle said it is a pleasure, after weeks of preparations, that the twins will be in a hospital in Jordan to undergo the surgery.

He added, "They are now in safe hands with a team of specialized surgeons. We hope to see them very soon in Sana'a in good health."

He pointed out that UNICEF was able to cover the medical and logistical expenses for this operation thanks to contributions of many individual donors from the private sector.

Duamelle thanked Jordan, the hospital, and everyone who contributed to making such a matter possible in order to give these two children a better chance in life.

He noted that the health system in Yemen is in a deplorable condition, after six years of the conflict escalation in March 2015, only half of the health facilities are currently functioning, and those that do are suffering from severe shortages of medicines, equipment and staff.

UNICEF called for concerted efforts to prevent the complete collapse of the health system in Yemen, so that children and women across the country can access basic health services.