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THE ASSOCIATION OF SURGEONS OF EAST AFRICA
Compiled by Yusuf Kodwavwala: Archivist & Imre Loefler: Past
Archivist.
As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Association of
Surgeons of East Africa, it is only right that we look at the
past. It has been said that no one - not even God - can change
the past. But with a past as glorious as ours would we wish to
change even an iota?. As we sifted through the papers in our
archives dating back to the forties - we were impressed by the
foresight and vision of our founding fathers. There are many
important land-marks which we will mention later, but there is a
common theme that needs to be loudly proclaimed, especially for
the benefit of our guests who live outside this region.
In the past half century, our region has undergone cataclysmic
changes. As a result, the Association and its Membership now
spread over seven countries, have gallantly lived through many
vicissitudes, - coups and counter-coups, border closures, visa
regulations, changing political systems and climate, currency
restrictions and devaluations, wars and land mines, fiscal
mismanagement, poor governance and human rights violations. We
have weathered these storms and have not only survived but also
flourished.
A proposal was put forward to form the Association under the
name of The Association of Surgeons of East Africa. The proposal
was carried unanimously by those present.
The members present quickly promoted themselves to the status of
a Council! The first resolution was to the effect that those who
had replied to the exploratory letter in the affirmative, should
become foundation fellows. The officials elected on that date
were:
C. V. Braimbridge: President
Kirkaldy Willis: Hon. Secretary
G.E. Nevill: Hon Treasurer
For quite a few years Kirkaldy Willis carried the entire
secretarial office in one suitcase!
To this day we have two Foundation Fellows with us, Mr. Miller
and Mr. Nevill.
The first President - Mr. Braimbridge continued in office for
the first three formative years of the Association, 1950-53.
Since then there has been a new president elected every year.
Two Presidents, Mr. Croot and Mr. Nevill repeated their
presidential year, not consecutively but with a gap between
their two presidential terms. Apart from those worthy
exceptions, the presidential post has rotated amongst eminent
surgeons of the constituent countries. The first lady president
was Prof. Anne Bayley in the year 1983- 84. The first president
who could claim to be the son of the soil was Prof. Kyalwazi of
Makerere in the year 1967-68.
The greatest compliment we can pay the Association at the end of
its first fifty years is that while the region was
disintegrating and fragmenting, the Association was
consolidating and extending. As an example, when the East
African Community comprising the three charter members of the
Association, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania was breaking up, the
Association not only stood steadfast but also extended into
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique - further into eastern
and southern Africa. The politicians soon saw the folly of their
actions and are now trying desperately to rectify their errors
and regroup into political and economic blocks. Wish the high
and mighty had taken a leaf from us, mere surgeons!
Let us start at the very beginning and the beginning can be
precisely pin-pointed to the 24th January 1950. Though informal
discussions on the formation of an Association took place
amongst Kenyan surgeons in the late forties, the first formal
meeting took place on that date in the house of Mr. Kirkaldy
Willis an orthopaedic surgeon. At that meeting it was decided to
write to every surgeon in Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and
Zanzibar, now Tanzania, Nyasaland, now Malawi and Northern
Rhodesia, now Zambia to inquire if there was an interest in the
formation of an East African Association of Surgeons.
Almost a year later the inaugural meeting was held in the
Council Chamber of the City Hall in Nairobi on 9th November
1950. Mr C. V. Braimbridge took the chair and Mr Kirkaldy Willis
was the acting honorary secretary. Nineteen other surgeons were
present.
Since its inception there has also been a conference, an annual
general meeting and elections every year and the Council has
been meeting regularly to conduct the business of the
Association.
The penchant for inviting political dignitaries for opening the
conferences was obviously rampant even in those days because
there is letter in the archives inviting Sir Patrick Renison,
the then Governor of Kenya Colony to open the Annual Conference
in Nairobi on 3rd February 1960. The invitation was declined
because the Governor was going to be in London to attend the
Kenya Constitutional Conference at Lancaster House!
Before I go into further historical details I would like to draw
your attention to - perhaps the most important letter in our
archives - the one Denis Burkitt wrote on 19th October 1959 in
which he requested a slot at our Annual Conference to present
his first paper on what came to be known as Burkitt's Lymphoma.
At the Council Meeting held on 21st May 1954 in Nairobi, two
important decisions were taken. The minutes mention Mr.
Braimbridge talking about an ASEA tie, maroon in colour with a
zebra head and crossed artery forceps. The second decision was
to hold future Council Meetings in Soy at the Soy Residential
Club. The choice of Soy was made because of its equidistance
from Kampala and Nairobi. Though it had a magnificent golf
course and there is evidence to show that some Fellows enjoyed
the game of golf more than the Council meetings, the Council
minutes do not mention that the Golf course in any way affected
their decision! At about the same time, the first AGM was held
out of Nairobi in Kampala in January 1954.
A major shift came in the location of Council Meetings in 1970
when the late Sir Michael Wood of the Flying Doctor's Service
was elected the President. The golfers on the Council
capitulated to the pilots. With a possibility of flying Council
members, possible financial support from Commonwealth
Foundation, a desire to take surgery into the provinces and
districts and combining Council meetings with mini-conference,
the idea of 'rotation' took root. The first Council meeting on
that basis took place in Kisumu on 19th February 1971 during the
presidential year of the late Sir Michael Wood. Since then the
Council has been hosted in most provincial and district
headquarters and even smaller places in the now seven
constituent countries. The Council first went to the provinces
and emboldened with its success moved to the districts, where it
now meets regularly with scientific and clinical sessions in
tow.
In 1963 it was also decided by the Council that AGMs and Annual
Conferences will be always held in the first week of December
and they have done so since. Having been held in Nairobi and
Kampala since 1950, the first departure from this tradition took
place in 1974 when for the first time it was moved to Dar - es -
Salaam.
Having given you the general background I would now like to
enumerate some of the important landmarks
- 1961: ASEA became a member of the International Federation of
Surgical Colleges.
- 1963 : Mr. Braimbridge one of the founding fathers and
Charter President of the Association died and in his memory, the
ASEA set up a prize for the best paper presented by a surgeon
within ten years of obtaining the basic medical degree. The
family of the late Mr. Braimbridge donated £50 every year to be
presented in addition to the medal provided by the Association.
The cash donation by the family ceased a few years ago but the
ASEA decided to pay the same from its own finances.
- 1975 : At the Moshi Council meeting on Friday 10th March
1975, the then Hon. Secretary proposed the publication of the
Proceedings of our Association. A seventy page journal on the
lines of the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons was
suggested with revenue to come from advertisers. As often
happens in ASEA, the person who suggested the idea, was made the
editor and has remained so to this day. The first volume of the
Proceedings was published in 1978. In 1995 it was replaced by
the East and Central African Journal of Surgery.
- 1983 : Chairman’s Prize. At the first Council Meeting of the
Association held in Bulawayo in that year, this prize was
established with the help of Bulawayo Trust. It is awarded to
the best overall paper at the Annual Conference and the prize is
Z$500.
- 1987 Five important events took place in that year.
(A) The Association and the Royal College of Surgeons of
Edinburgh held joint conference which took place in Nairobi in
the first week of December 1987. This was a great occasion for
us because it gave us an international exposure to the oldest
surgical College in the world which was established in 1504.
Incidentally, The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, well
represented here today is due to celebrate its 500 years of
existence soon.
(B) Important constitutional changes were formulated for
presentation to the AGM - at the longest Council meeting ever
held in the history of the Association. This full day meeting
took place in Jinja on Friday the 2nd October at the Crested
Crane Hotel and lasted from 9AM to 6PM.
(C) A philanthropic foundation offered to sponsor a travelling
fellow who would come to East Africa for 3 weeks, visit the
various countries, hospitals and medical schools in the region
and deliver an eponymous oration at the Annual General Meeting.
The Edinburgh College graciously agreed to collaborate in this
project and the fellowship was inaugurated under the name of
Rahima Dawood Travelling Fellow of the Association of Surgeons
of East Africa and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Up to now ten eminent Fellows selected from overseas and our
region have accomplished this arduous tasks and this year the
eleventh Fellow is doing the rounds.
(D) The Foundation also sponsored an annual cash prize and
certificate for the best student in surgery at the final MBChB
examination in various universities of the region under the
auspices of the Association.
(E) Finally the College. Though the rumblings about a College
had been heard from the time of the inception of the
Association, the first formal mention of the College was made in
the presidential address in Lusaka on 3rd December 1986. "l can
visualise a College of Surgeons arising out of our Association,'
said the president inaugurating the year 1987, his year in
office. Today we are seeing the full culmination of that vision.
- Teaching and Training : Perhaps it is here that we can claim
our finest hour, our best and most valuable contribution. There
is a detailed correspondence in our archives in connection with
setting up a medical school in Nairobi and our role in
organising M. Med in Surgery in various countries of our region
is very adequately documented.
We also organised 'Think Tanks" as follows:
1980 : Mombasa: Surgery in East Africa Technology and Training
1985 : Nyeri: Surgery in Africa in the year 2000
1993 : Maputo:AIDS Symposium
In addition we have set up specialist training centres in Mpilo
Hospital, Bulawayo for Orthopaedic surgery, in Harare for
Neurosurgery and in Moshi for Urology. The last one blossomed
into a full fledged Surgical Institute. Once again a
philanthropist from Moshi, donated money to build the
institution at KCMC and this surgical institute under the
patronage of ASEA is providing a certified course in higher
urological training and will soon with collaboration of the
local University confer higher qualifications in the same
subject.
I cannot close the list of landmarks without mentioning the role
of Ethicon in the most laudatory terms. The company pledged in
1984 to donate £5000 to the Ethicon Fund of the Association
every year with a proviso that the Association can use the
interest on the capital. Today the fund stands at £72 500
including a 1999 donation of £5000. Secondly the production of
our Newsletter has been financed by Ethicon since it was first
published in June 1989. In addition their presence here every
year, regular sponsorship of Council dinner and bringing high
powered dignitaries to help us with various workshops and
audio-visual aids have proved highly effective and is greatly
appreciated.
I must add two more developments which have taken place in
recent years. In view of the local needs, surgical societies
have been established in the individual countries of the region.
The ASEA has shepherd them, held joint meetings with them and
has established a cordial relations with these national
organisations. At the same time we have helped centralisation.
We are an integral and important part of PAAS, Pan-African
Association of Surgeons, a continental body which has
amalgamated the surgical associations and colleges in east, west
and south Africa. To prove our solidarity, the PAAS conference
is held now in Nairobi back to back with us and its current
president is one of our very valued and respected past
presidents.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have come a full circle. I started by
saying that we have always wanted to extend and unite and while
the politicians are still dragging their feet on the subject of
regional unity, we have already achieved it on the surgical
level.
May I end by repeating that we have a lot to brag about and you
must therefore forgive me if I have blown our own trumpet a
little too loud! And yet all this would not have been possible
without the continuing vision, relentless efforts, hardships,
sacrifices and considerable financial contribution of countless
Fellows, both in the region and abroad. I would find myself in
an invidious position if I attempted to name them individually
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