Management of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Kwara, has given employment to the couple whose conjoined twins were separated by specialists in the hospital.
Dr Louis Odeiga, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) of UITH, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Ilorin on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a multi-disciplinary team of medical experts in the teaching hospital, with the assistance of the Kwara government, performed a successful surgical operation separating the conjoined twins in May 2021.
Odeiga said the job opportunity was to enable the couple take care of the babies to realize their potentials in life.
He said that the couple were jobless when the conjoined twins were born, adding that the couple now worked in one of the health facilities of the teaching hospital in New Bussa, Niger state.
“As at the time the surgery was done on the children, the parents were not employed.
“So, the CMD of the UITH employed them to empower them and to make sure the children realize their potentials and today they are employees of the teaching hospital,” he said.
He said that in the past, conjoined twins were either killed or thrown into rivers, adding that if it happened then, probably the children would have been forgotten.
He also said that one of the philanthropic organizations in the country, Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, facilitated by a Centre for Democracy, Research and Development of the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, made a financial donation for upkeep of the twins for the next five years.
Odeiga, said the UITH was one of the well-equipped teaching hospitals in the country in the last two years, adding that the hospital could still do with more medical infrastructure to perform better in its core mandates.
“Equipment we got in the last two years, especially in the laboratory, we never thought we could have gotten them in the next 10 years.
“As far as laboratory is concerned, we are very fully equipped. One of the key things in medical diagnosis is what is called molecular diagnosis through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines.
“It picks where ailments start in the system which naked eyes cannot see. We never had that not only here but in the country and many research works could not be done before here because of its absence,” he said.
The director pointed out that COVID-19 helped the hospital to build capacity and that the PCR was needed for epidemic and infections.
“Kwara state now has seven PCR machines. We have four PCR machines here now in the UITH. The university has two and the state ministry of health has one,” he said.
Odeiga, also said that access to healthcare was still a challenge in the country, and that Nigeria needs to equip existing hospitals and build equip new ones to take care of health needs of the populace.
