The Benghazi Children’s Hospital has announced the successful completion of a rare surgical procedure on a one-day-old infant, who was diagnosed with a large abdominal mass.
According to the hospital, after conducting necessary examinations, including ultrasound and imaging scans, it was determined that the mass comprised a complex combination of “bones, fats, and tissues within the abdominal cavity.”
The hospital further explained that this condition, known as “fetus in fetu,” is an extremely rare occurrence, happening once in every 500,000 births worldwide.
The hospital continued to state that the entire mass, which was essentially a “fetus in fetu,” was successfully removed. It highlighted that the surgical team consisted of Libyan doctors, and that the infant is currently in a stable condition.
Libya has been marred by conflict and political instability for over a decade. The 2011 uprising, which ousted and killed, Muammar Gaddafi has led to a power vacuum and ongoing conflict.
The healthcare sector in Libya has been heavily impacted by this instability. The conflict has led to the deterioration of the healthcare infrastructure, and a shortage of medical supplies and professionals. Additionally, political instability has disrupted the organisation and delivery of healthcare services.
The country has struggled to maintain its healthcare system, and as a result, many Libyans seek medical treatment abroad, particularly in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.
Last month, Mahmoud Aboudabus, the Head of the National Organ Donation Organisation in Libya, reported the alarming deaths of seven children with spinal ailments. Three more have contracted Hepatitis C, despite being clear of the virus when they were admitted to Wadi El-Nil Hospital in Egypt.
These incidents have raised serious concerns about the conditions these children were exposed to in the hospital.
Aboudabus voiced his surprise over the “lack of initiatives taken by the Libyan state to establish spinal marrow transplantation procedures within its own medical infrastructure.”
This includes the training of healthcare professionals such as nurses and lab technicians, in this particular area of expertise at the Organ Transplant Center located in Tripoli. He stressed that Libya possesses a well-qualified workforce of healthcare professionals, but the key issue remains the need for properly equipped hospital facilities.
