UCAN REPORT:
Activists note high public support for procedure in region known for ambivalence towards female children
An Australian-Indian team of 22 doctors and 11 nurses separated 11-month-old Stuti and Aradhana on Wednesday at Padhar Hospital in Betul.
Surgeons successfully separated conjoined twin girls during a 12-hour procedure Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh state.
The operation was funded with public support, which activists say is a sign of hope in an Indian state notorious for the ill-treatment of girls.
An Australian-Indian team of 22 doctors and 11 nurses separated 11-month-old Stuti and Aradhana at Padhar Hospital in Betul. Citing poverty, the twins’ parents left the girls at the Protestant hospital after their birth on July 2, 2011.
Hospital administrator Rajeev Chaudhary said the surgery was successful and the girls were recovering in the ICU. “Their pulse rates are normal, and the doctors are keeping a watch on every development,” he said.
However, the 48 hours after the surgery would be critical, he said.
Dr. Albert Shun, consultant pediatric surgeon and liver transplant surgeon at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, led the medical team that separated the twin’s fused livers and removed their hearts from a common membrane cover.
The surgery was paid for with public assistance, after the hospital started a media campaign for the girls. New Delhi Television (NDTV), a national channel, collected 1 million rupees (US$18,180) from its viewers, and the state contributed another 2 million rupees.
“This shows that public sentiments have not died yet,” said Pushpa Maravi, an activist working among tribal people in the state. Madhya Pradesh state needs such media campaigns to end female feticide and malnutrition, she said.
Female feticide is rampant in many parts of the state as people consider girls a burden on the family, Maravi said.
According to a 2011 census, Madhya Pradesh had only 930 females per 1,000 males, below the national average of 940.
In October 2011, the state government launched the “Save Girl Child” campaign, which aims to raise awareness of parents and bans sex determination tests on pregnant women.
Manish Masboinwar, a villager who followed the twin’s case on TV, said the surgery would not have been possible without public support. “If people come together like this, the state can also eradicate malnutrition of girl children,” he added.
The operation was funded with public support, which activists say is a sign of hope in an Indian state notorious for the ill-treatment of girls.
An Australian-Indian team of 22 doctors and 11 nurses separated 11-month-old Stuti and Aradhana at Padhar Hospital in Betul. Citing poverty, the twins’ parents left the girls at the Protestant hospital after their birth on July 2, 2011.
Hospital administrator Rajeev Chaudhary said the surgery was successful and the girls were recovering in the ICU. “Their pulse rates are normal, and the doctors are keeping a watch on every development,” he said.
However, the 48 hours after the surgery would be critical, he said.
Dr. Albert Shun, consultant pediatric surgeon and liver transplant surgeon at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, led the medical team that separated the twin’s fused livers and removed their hearts from a common membrane cover.
The surgery was paid for with public assistance, after the hospital started a media campaign for the girls. New Delhi Television (NDTV), a national channel, collected 1 million rupees (US$18,180) from its viewers, and the state contributed another 2 million rupees.
“This shows that public sentiments have not died yet,” said Pushpa Maravi, an activist working among tribal people in the state. Madhya Pradesh state needs such media campaigns to end female feticide and malnutrition, she said.
Female feticide is rampant in many parts of the state as people consider girls a burden on the family, Maravi said.
According to a 2011 census, Madhya Pradesh had only 930 females per 1,000 males, below the national average of 940.
In October 2011, the state government launched the “Save Girl Child” campaign, which aims to raise awareness of parents and bans sex determination tests on pregnant women.
Manish Masboinwar, a villager who followed the twin’s case on TV, said the surgery would not have been possible without public support. “If people come together like this, the state can also eradicate malnutrition of girl children,” he added.
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