President Nana Akufo-Addo has fulfilled his pledge to fund the surgery to separate the twins conjoined at the head.
This follows a campaign by JoyNews, led by the host of the Super Morning Show, Kojo Yankson, to raise funds to foot the GH¢3 million bill the family was asked to pay for the life-saving surgery.
Subsequently, the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Opare, on Monday, July 5, 2021, announced that President Akufo-Addo has decided to take up the cost.
In a Facebook post, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, said the President fulfilled the pledge on Tuesday, 31st August 2021.
“Through the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Hon. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, an amount of GH¢14,394,397.58 (cost of operation and the purchase of surgical equipment) has been released for the procedure, which is expected to commence in the second week of September,” Mr Arhin wrote.
Research indicates that 60 percent of twins joined in the head, die in the womb, another 35 per cent die within 24 hours after birth. Only five per cent survive until surgery.
Father of the twins, Samuel Addo, on the June 11, 2021, edition of the Super Morning Show disclosed that a whopping GH₵3 million was needed to fund the crucial surgery, however, his family cannot afford the cost.
According to him, he and his wife had no idea they had been blessed with twins. They also did not know that it was a case of Siamese twins until a last-minute scan before delivery revealed the condition to them.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public to come to the aid of his family. The appeal caught the attention of the President who has released funds for the surgery to begin.
The surgery is expected to commence in the second week of September.