El Hadi Ahmed El Sheikh: Milestones in Sudanese Ophthalmology, Research in Blindness, Onchocerciasis & Trachoma (Pioneers Paperbacks Series Book 5)

The idea for compiling this series of monographs originated after I finished collecting the scattered works of the late Prof. Tigani El-Mahi (1911-1970). In two volumes, I edited and published his articles, which he wrote in Arabic in 1981 and those, which he wrote in English in 1984. The warm reception those two volumes had encouraged me to continue similar work on more pioneers albeit in a different way. Work started during my fruitful expatriate period in Saudi Arabia (1989-2004), and took fresh momentum after I came back to Sudan, when I realized that this type of work could have more far-reaching value than mere documentation. I realized that allusion to several pioneers of the medical profession is anecdotal and reflected misinformation and superficial impressions at best. Given this dismal situation, health care providers, researchers and students are faced with a dearth of reliable sources on the bookshelves. Resource books are alarmingly few and historical writings notably deficient. Sources rest mainly in grey literature, which by definition is not readily available. For sure, we are not doing enough in the field of documentation. Although we say that health care providers, researchers, and students should be informed about the history of this profession, sources of information are few. History is not written or taught systematically in all health institutions. The few medical schools that started courses in this field still lack authentic sources to help them in their job. Personal contributions and outstanding achievements of the pioneers of Sudanese medicine were not documented or highlighted. An approach that is more positive should be taken to correct this deficiency. There are lessons to be learnt by posterity from the legacy of their predecessors, how they lived, behaved, and worked. In a fresh look at the lives of the pioneers, there will be an opportunity, I presume, for re-enacting the merits of these great men and women, and emulating their successful stories and bringing those stories back to life in one way or another. Medical history should be documented. This should be a priority, not only because it is something worthy of our immediate attention; but also because it is the one part of our medical culture, which has been totally neglected. Now, after so much work by several generations, so much experience and big sacrifices, it is high time for this profession to substantiate what it has gained thus far and put it on record, for surely one good document is worth a billion spoken words. I took this matter seriously by launching a major documentation project entitled “Sudan Health Trilogy” for which I solicited the help of teams of co-workers, co-authors, fieldworkers, and editors. In addition to performing its chief function, that of recording faithfully the lives and work of the main actors in the medical scene, the Trilogy also hopes to provide authentic information. Often we find ourselves uncertain as to whether or not a particular act or technique has been widely accepted or related to a certain person. How can we be sure? This Trilogy should help us here. By consulting the appropriate part of this work, we can obtain the information we need on the milestones of different disciplines of Sudanese health care delivery. The danger in thinking that history starts with us, that nothing has been said or done before about the issue in question, or lay hands on what is not ours are obvious caveats. This is the raison d’être for launching the project of this Trilogy. There has always been coexisting generations working together, and there has always been a generation gap in the medical profession, and for that matter, in every other profession. The younger generations have grumbled about the way their elders behaved, and the way they treated them, and have repeatedly deviated from the set norms, sometimes in obstinate and intentional rebellion. Read more