紛争下のイエメン、結合双生児が深刻な容体　海外での治療必要と病院訴え

【サヌアＡＦＰ＝時事】内戦下のイエメンで、胸部が結合した状態で生まれた双子の男児が深刻な容体となり、海外での治療を必要としている。首都サヌアの病院が18日、明らかにした。（写真はイエメンの首都サヌアの病院で生まれた結合双生児）
　病院の院長によると、双子は１６日に生まれ、「２人にはそれぞれ心臓があるが、片方の子の心臓の位置が正常でない」という。
　また病院の設備が整っていないため、医師らは「どの臓器が結合しているか」を正確に判断できないという。
　サヌアは２０１４年からイランが後ろ盾の反政府武装勢力フーシ派が掌握しており、サウジアラビア主導の連合軍が支援する暫定政府との間で戦いが続いている。
　アラブ世界で最貧とされるイエメンの医療サービスは、内戦によりすでに壊滅的な被害を受けている。また連合軍の航空封鎖により、サヌアの空港では民間の航空便の利用ができない状態だ。
　しかし院長は「関連当局の協力があれば、分離手術を受けるために（双子が）イエメンを出国するチャンスは必ずある」と述べた。
　院長によると、地元の保健当局がこの双子について国連を含む国際組織に支援を求めているという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/12/21-15:01）

Conjoined twin boys in war-ravaged Yemen are in critical condition and in need of treatment abroad, a hospital in the capital Sanaa said Friday.
Born two days earlier, the two babies are now in a critical condition, according to Majda al-Khatib, director of Al-Sabeen hospital.
An echocardiogram showed that each of the two children had their own heart, though the position of the heart of one of them is not normal, she told AFP.
The facility's low capacity prevents doctors from accurately determining which organs are connected, she added.
The Yemeni capital has been controlled since 2014 by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who are fighting forces of the internationally recognised government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The conflict has devastated health services already under-resourced in the Arab world's poorest country.
Sanaa's airport is closed to commercial flights due to an air blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition.
But Khatib said there is certainly a chance for them (the twins) to leave Yemen in order to be separated if the relevant authorities cooperate.
This is important and essential.
She said the health ministry was pleading their case with international organisations, including the UN.
In February 2019, another pair of conjoined baby boys in need of urgent treatment died in Sanaa two weeks after their birth.
Their plight had sparked a plea for urgent medical treatment overseas.
Yemen's conflict has precipitated the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.
In October, the UN said malnutrition among young children in the country had soared to the highest levels ever recorded there.