BHUBANESWAR: The
Odisha government is not in any hurry to bring separated conjoined twins, Jaga and Kalia, back from AIIMS-Delhi. It wants to keep them at the institute for some more days for better treatment, health minister
Pratap Jena said this after meeting the two brothers at the premier hospital on Friday.
“We will take a call on the discharge of the twins after getting report from a five-member medical team that came with me to the hospital,” he added.
Jena said Jaga’s condition was good, but Kalia needed more medical attention. “We discussed with the doctors of
AIIMS Delhi about the condition of the twins. After hearing their views, we requested the hospital authorities to keep the twins for some more days,” he added.
A team of five doctors from Odisha had also visited Delhi with the minister and national health mission state director Shalini Pandit.
They will give a report to the minister about the condition and possible date of discharge of the kids from the hospital, official sources said.
Three expert doctors from SCB Medical College hospital, one from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics, Cuttack and one expert from AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, were in the five member team.
The craniopagus twins from Milipada village in Kandhamal district were joined from their heads. They had left for Delhi on July 13 last year. The first surgery was conducted on the twins on August 28 last year for more than 21 hours, while they got separated on October 25 after a marathon surgery that lasted for over 11 hours at the AIIMS by a team of 30 specialist doctors.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had visited the children at AIIMS Delhi after they got separated. The state government had sanctioned Rs 1 crore for the treatment of the twins.