Profile on Professor Charles Ssali
MBChB FRCS (ED)
Professor Ssali is a Ugandan medical doctor and researcher in both western and traditional herbal medicines. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in London.
After ten years of scientific medical research, Professor Ssali has developed natural nutritional supplements for building the body’s immune system.
These natural nutritional supplements have been developed under the name Mariandina.
Professor Ssali: Personal Details
Professor Ssali: Personal Details
Surnames : Ssali Lwanga Kabalu
First name : Charles
Nationality : Ugandan
Date of birth : 3 September 1930
Place of birth: Masaka, Uganda
Present Position
Dr. Ssali is the founder and director of the non-governmental organization Mariandina Nutritional Health Products that was established in 1993.
Educational Background
1940 - 1946
Primary Education Kitasa Parish School. Passed grade A, 265 marks out of 300.
1947 - 1953
Secondary education at St. Henry’s College in Kitovu. Passed Cambridge School Certificate with 5 distinctions and 4 credits. Best results in East Africa for that year (1953).
1954 - 1955
Was admitted to Makerere University Kampala for the Higher School Certificate that he passed in 1955. He continued with pre-clinical training in anatomy and physiology for two years followed by clinical years in Medicine and Surgery leading to the degree of MBCHB in 1960.
1960 - 1962
Internship at Mulago Hospital was from January to December 1961. He worked in general medical practice from 1962 after the internship. He worked in Entebbe Hospital for six months followed by one year in Bombo Hospital where he was in charge of medical and surgical problems including obstetrical and gynaecological patients.
1963 - 1967
He returned to Mulago Hospital as a Senior Medical Officer in the department of Ear, Nose and Throat. He obtained a scholarship to understudy as consultant in Ear, Nose and Throat. He was later awarded a scholarship by the Central Government of Uganda to study at the Royal College of Surgeons at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London in 1964. He passed the primary FRCS in London in April 1965 and proceeded to practical training in the specialty of Ear, Nose and Throat at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thereafter, he worked as a registrar at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy Fife, Scotland.
Later on he worked at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh as a registrar as part of his training. He passed the final examination of Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in April 1967. This is the highest examination degree in medicine and surgery.
1964
Married Miss Margaret Nansamba.
1967
He returned to Uganda and started working in Mulago Hospital as a senior registrar in the department of Ear, Nose and Throat. He was responsible for all the surgical and clinical work in the department while under the supervision of Professor Steen.
Research Background
1973
For a period of 5 years he carried out research on the following conditions: –
Atrophic Rhinitis: He published a paper on “The Treatment of Atrophic Rhinitis.” A new and curative treatment (middle turbirectomy) JLO 1973, Vol. 8, 397 – 403. This research formed the foundation of modern treatment for this condition. This condition, known as Kibobe in Uganda, had to date no effective curative method of treatment though being commonly found the world over.
Atrophic Rhinitis afflicts mainly those in the developing world. Most of them poor and malnourished! It causes a smelly nose which is forbidding and people affected are shunned in society. Women thus afflicted cannot get married due to the foul smell of their noses. Professor Ssali’s pioneering treatment created a new era for these people, allowing them to mix well in society. He received messages of congratulations from Malaysia and India for his pioneering work. Professor Ssali’s method of treatment is still in use today. His findings have been published in international journals.
Rhino Scleroma: Dr. Ssali published a paper, “The Treatment of Rhino Scleroma” JLO 1975, Vol. 89, 91 -99. It is still the standard in textbooks. This condition, known as Kokolo in Uganda, is also worldwide in nature. His research and discovery of treatment for this condition created a breakthrough in its management.
Rhino Scleroma can distort the face, the nose and throat of an individual creating extreme disfigurement. Furthermore, if left untreated it is liable to cause premature death of subject.
Dr. Ssali pioneered and standardized the treatment for Scleroma.
Laryngo Tracheobronchitis: “Steroids and Restoration of body fluids in liquid form as the basis of proper management of Laryngo Tracheobronchitis” by C. L. Ssali, Mulago Hospital, Kampala — Proceedings of the 1974 Annual Scientific Conference of the East African Medical Research Council.
Upon Professor Ssali’s publication, the treatment regime was changed implementing his methods, which are still the standard today. (“The Child in the African Environment Growth Development and Survival.” Editors: R. Owor, V. L. Ongom, B. G. Kirya, East African Literature Bureau. Nairobi, Kampala & Dar es Salaam).
Laryngo Tracheobronchitis is a condition that affects children between the age of 2 to 5 years, causing respiratory obstruction caused by inflammation in the throat and nose and lungs. Original treatment involved tracheotomy to allow for continued breathing.
Professor Ssali’s research produced a new successful method of treatment without using tracheotomy. Hence avoiding permanent damage and scars in the child’s breathing passages.
Appointments
1974 - 1979
Dr. Ssali was appointed Professor and head of the department for ear, nose and throat diseases which included teaching medical students and running the department as a specialist in Ear, Nose and Throat. He was the consultant for the Government of Uganda and Makerere University in related problems.
1979 - 1984
Professor Ssali left Uganda and went to Kenya. He was appointed consultant surgeon in Kenyatta National Hospital Nairobi Kenya’ with responsibilities to treat patients and teach medical students.
1984 - 1987
Dr. Ssali left Kenya and settled in the United Kingdom where he worked as a consultant in the National Health Service (NHS). He worked in the Stevenage General Hospital, London; Princess Margaret Hospital, London; Victoria General Hospital; Kirkcaldy Fife, Scotland, as a consultant, surgeon in ear, nose and throat. He was also a consultant in the Royal Infirmary in Carlisle, England.
1987 - 1988
Professor Ssali was appointed consultant in Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh Central Hospital.
1988 - 1992
Dr. Ssali resumed his duties in the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom. Again he worked as a consultant in Ear, Nose and Throat (E.N.T.) together with Dr. James Tivendale in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy Fife, Scotland and other district hospitals.
Pioneering HIV/AIDS Research
1988 – 1992
During his time in the United Kingdom, Dr. Ssali privately carried out part-time research to try and solve the HIV/AIDS treatment problem. He made some significant breakthroughs in the formulation of a prototype pill for which he obtained a British patent registered No. 2224649 on the 20th of August 1992.
Dr. Ssali returned to Kampala, Uganda to start his own HIV/AIDS treatment research centre. His decision was based on the poor output of the world research effort into AIDS. Dr. Ssali decided to use experience gained during his years of research at Makerere University between 1969 and 1979, in order to help those most afflicted in the Africa and Asia. This research programme was self-financed.
The objective of Dr. Ssali’s pioneering research was to find ways of controlling the AIDS virus by using medical/non-traditional treatment. This objective has been achieved through the development of natural nutritional supplements code-named Mariandina A, B & J, that have been used to treat over 18,000 HIV/ AIDS patients, with good results.
The founding of the Mariandina Nutritional Health Products and the subsequent development of the Mariandina natural nutritional supplements was for the purpose of solving this AIDS pandemic by using affordable treatment methods. Knowing that products from Western pharmaceutical companies may never be affordable to third world countries.
These capsules are composed of a combination of vitamins, minerals, essential enzymes and micronutrients that are vital for body functions damaged by the HIV virus. Mariandina natural nutritional supplements also contain powerful antioxidants, flavanoids and immune enhancing herbal extracts.
Publications explaining the benefits of Mariandina supplements have appeared in various Journals, namely: The Journal of Transfigural Mathematics Vol. 2. No.2 1996, published in Berlin; The Exposure, No. 70 December 1995 Kampala, Uganda; and the Medical Review, vol. 2, No. 1, Jan/ Feb 1996, Uganda, East Africa.
Attendance at HIV/AIDS Conferences
Dr. Ssali has also presented his research findings by participating in the following international conferences:
- Under the auspices of the Association of Research Scientists of Africa (ARSA), Dr. Ssali staged a scientific symposium on Mariandina research presented in the International Conference Centre Kampala, Uganda. Attended by Uganda Medical Association doctors, Uganda Aids Commission representatives, the Ministry of Health personnel and the Minister of Health as the guest of honour on the 22nd of November 1995.
- Voxjo University International Conference on AIDS in Africa on the 23rd of November 1996.
- Attended conference on nutrition and HIV/AIDS, from 22nd to the 25th of April in Nice, France. The researchers from various countries of the world including Britain, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and Africa presented their research findings on the value of various food items – including vitamins and micronutrients – in combating HIV/AIDS.
- It was concluded that various food items have very significant value in the treatment and alleviation of AIDS and boosting of the immune system. This proved that the research carried out at the Mariandina Nutritional Health Products, focusing on effective HIV/AIDS management strategies, has been and is geared in the right direction.