DHAKA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- A pair of Bangladeshi conjoined twins will undergo operation to separate them on Tuesday.
The conjoined twins Tofa and Tohura are united back to back along their spinal columns.
They are currently at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Bangladesh's biggest public hospital, which set up a team of specialists to treat them.
Shahnoor Islam, associate professor at Dhaka Medical Pediatric Surgery Department, told Xinhua on Sunday that the hospital staff have been looking after Tofa and Tohura since October last year.
"In line with the decision of our medical board, we'll perform separation surgery at 8 a.m. (local time) on Aug. 1."
"We will perform this complex operation in collaboration with doctors and staff of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital and others."
Prof. Ashraf Ul Huq, head of Paediatric Surgery Department at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, had earlier told Xinhua that they are monitoring the health conditions of the nine-month-old twins, who were born in Bangladesh's northern Gaibandha district, 268 km away from capital Dhaka, since long.
He said the team of specialist Dhaka Medical College and Hospital doctors including Professor Shahnoor Islam have treated anal and rectal problems of the infants.
Sahida Begum, mother of the twins, said she is very-much hopeful that her girls will return to normal life.
"Doctors gave me hope. Hope my kids will be okay. We are very-much hopeful that they will return to normal life."
However, there are another pair of conjoined twins, Rabia and Rukaiya, in Bangladesh who also await separation.
Rabia and Rukaiya were born joined at the head at a clinic in the country's Pabna district, 216 km west of capital Dhaka, in July last year.
They are undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in the capital, which also set up a team of specialists to treat them.
Prof. Ruhul Amin, chief paediatric surgeon at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in capital Dhaka, Thursday said the sisters already underwent a string of medical tests.
He said surgeons and physicians have now been formulating a comprehensive plan for their separation.
"We're yet to decide when they will undergo an operation to separate them," Amin said.
In January 2002, Bangladeshi doctors performed first-ever operation to separate conjoined twins who later died.
Since then doctors here performed a number of separation operations of conjoined twins in the country. Some of them survived and are leading a healthy life.
