The conference was chaired by Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Governor of Riyadh, who represented King Salman.
Prince Faisal bin Bandar said, “Since 1990, 143 cases of twins from 26 countries have been reviewed by my dear colleagues, who have successfully separated a total of 61 pairs of twins to date.”
The governor then emphasized the uniqueness of the program worldwide, which is focused on separating conjoined twins, thus ranking it among the largest humanitarian medical initiatives globally.
He also mentioned that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is reviewing a proposal from Saudi Arabia to establish November 24 as the annual ‘World Conjoined Twins Day.’
The Director-General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised Saudi Arabia for its leadership in hosting the conference.
He said “I commend Saudi Arabia for its leadership in organizing this important World Conjoined Twins Day Conference.”
Ghebreyesus also commended the initiative as an exemplary model of international cooperation in addressing rare and intricate medical challenges.
Adding that, “The conference provides critical insights, from surgical innovations to long-term strategies, shaping rare initiatives.
“A broader platform and registry for congenital anomalies would benefit low and middle-income countries.”
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the advisor to the Royal Court and supervisor-general of Saudi aid agency KSrelief, delivered the keynote address.
As the leader of the multidisciplinary team behind the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, Al-Rabeeah shared valuable insights into the prevalence and challenges faced by conjoined twins.
“The first successful separation was by Johannes Fatio back in 1689 by using a constricting band for a set of Omphalopagus twins or those sharing liver and gastrointestinal organs.
“With a 0.5 percent incidence rate, this early success involved presumably, a small joining in the skin, probably a little bit of the liver,” he said.
Al-Rabeeah further noted that a significant milestone was achieved in 1957 with the first successful separation of Craniopagus twins which refers to those who share a single brain.
Adding that, “In Western countries, it’s been estimated that we get one conjoined twins in every 50 to 200,000 births.
“However, it is more prevalent in Southeast Asia and Africa, presumably because identical twinning and twinning is found more in dark-skinned people in Africa and also in Southeast Asia, increasing the incidence.”
The conference serves not only as a venue for scientific exchange but also encourages discussions on forming global partnerships to assist conjoined twins and their families, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
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