BHUBANESWAR: The conjoined twins of Kandhamal district have been shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi for further treatment.
The twins, along with parents Bhuan Kanhar and Puspanjali Kanhar, left Bhubaneswar in Rajdhani Express on Thursday. The children were brought to Bhubaneswar from their village Milipada on Wednesday night.The babies will be admitted in AIIMS and checked whether a surgery can be done to separate them. They have been accompanied by Assistant Manager of National Adolescent Health Programme, Soumya Samantray.
Earlier, doctors at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack had suggested for brain imaging to ascertain the position of their brains.
As the twins are craniopagus (fused at the cranium), a brain imaging is necessary to find out whether they share only skull or even the brain. Thereafter, further course of action will be decided.
Initial health check-up of the twins was done at SCBMCH earlier this month after Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena assured to facilitate their treatment. It was then decided to shift them to AIIMS for further treatment.
Kandhamal administration has provided a financial assistance of `1 lakh and District Patient Welfare Committee has given `25,000 for treatment of the conjoined twins.
Meanwhile, Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu provided prompt medical help to the twins after learning about their plight from Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
While a commercial officer made an arrangement in the moving train for their smooth travel, a team of two doctors checked the health of the babies in Rajdhani Express near Tatanagar.
Tweeting about the development, the Ministry of Railways informed that Prabhu has also arranged appointment of Dr Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, who is now Director of SGPGIMS of Department of Neurosurgery in AIIMS, for treatment of the twins.