Mali Surgeons in Historic Conjoined-twin Operation

Surgeons in Mali have successfully separated conjoined twin girls in the country’s first-ever operation of its kind, marking a major milestone for specialised medicine in Mali.

The babies, born on August 29, shared a bladder and colon and were connected through their urinary and digestive systems.

A multidisciplinary team of Malian specialists at CHU Gabriel Touré in Bamako carried out the complex procedure, with the twins continuing to receive medical care after the successful separation.

The team included children's doctors, heart specialists, and x-ray experts.

Mali's Health Minister Assa Badiallo Toure visited the newborn twins  and showered  praise to the medical team.

“Such an operation is truly a feat,”she was elated of this major milestone in Mali's medical sector.

Mali now joins a list of a few African countries that have successfully done such delicate surgeries.

Early this year in March, doctors at Mankweng Hospital, a rural public facility in South Africa, separated conjoined newborns.

In 2014,Zimbabwe made history after the first successful separation of conjoined twin boys born with a shared liver after an eight-hour operation.

A team of 50 Zimbabwean doctors, nurses and others in the health profession led by Dr Bothwell Mbuwayesango performed the operation of  the twin boys Kupakwashe and Tapiwanashe Chitigo at Harare Hospital now Sally Mugabe.

Dr Bothwell Mbuwayesango in 2021 led yet another team which successfully separated conjoined twins and this time the surgery was complex lasting 18-hours at the same hospital