Delta State Conjoined Twins: Okowa Doles Out N2.5 Million, Promises More Assistance
In line with his promise to assist the conjoined twins delivered recently at the Delta State Teaching Hospital (DELSU), Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area, the Delta State governor, Mr Ifeanyi Okowa, has presented a cheque of N2.5 million for their upkeep and medical expenses while awaiting surgery.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye presented the cheque to the parents of the conjoined twins on behalf of the state governor at the neonatal section of DELSU.
The Commissioner said that when the information got to the Governor and the poor financial state of the parents, the Governor promised to intervene and this is what has led to the cheque presentation and promised that more assistance will still come from government.
He thanked all members of Staff who had played one role or the other which have kept the Siamese twins alive and urged them not to rest on their oars but continue to be committed to their work with the view to providing quality health care to all that will patronize the hospital.
Dr. Ononye said the Governor is committed to making the teaching hospital a place of excellence and to prove that very soon massive renovation of the hospital will commence.
Expressing gratitude to the Governor for his kind gesture, Dr. Onome Ogueh, Chief Medical Director (CMD), Delta State Teaching Hospital, Oghara said the support of the governor has been wonderful, adding that since assumption of office as CMD, the Governor has been very responsive to the requests made by the institution and for that the hospital is indebted to the Governor.
He commended the Commissioner for the role he played that led to the quick response by the Governor evident in the presentation of the cheque.
Dr. Ogueh informed the Commissioner that a Medical Team all the way from the United States of America known as Hospital for Humanity is currently on a visit to the hospital and they have come to see how the hospital can develop services to babies with congenital heart disease such as what the conjoined twins are presently experiencing.
He said the hospital will work with them to ensure that advanced health care services are effectively delivered in the hospital for the betterment of Deltans and residents in the State.
The parents of the conjoined twins Mr. and Mrs. Peter Amaje thanked the Governor for his financial assistant to them at such a time like this since they do not have the financial capacity to foot the medical bills so far not to talk of the surgery that will be performed on their babies.
They also thanked the Commissioner for Health and the Staff of the hospital for their various assistance of which they said ‘it is only God that can richly reward them’.
The father of the twins is a corps member serving in Onicha-Uku, Delta State while the mother is a full time house wife.
According to the hospital authorities, the twins were born on May 2nd this year at the neonatal section of the hospital through caesarean section and at birth weighed 4.6kg and currently they weigh 5kg combined.
The authorities said that the MRI done has not been able to clearly delineate the exact degree of joining but however, it has been established that there is a level of joining in the heart.