Eminent professor who always had time to help others
Professor Mahroof Ismail passed away a year ago on June 13.
I came to know Professor Ismail through his wife Deshabandu Jezima Ismail, being a frequent visitor at their residence at Kynsey Road. In brief, one could describe him as a “Gentleman to his fingertips”.
I initially did not know of his celebrity status since I am not in the medical field. Being the humble and unassuming man he was, he never flaunted his achievements.
He was a cook par excellence. He would make the most delicious asparagus sandwiches when he knew we (a few past students from Devi Balika) would be visiting Mrs.Ismail. He would join us and regale us with stories of his professional days with much wit and humour!
On numerous occasions I have seen both he and Mrs. Ismail advising young people and also giving a helping hand to the less fortunate to make their way in life. Their house was always filled with people whom they were assisting and educating!
The courage he showed when he lost his son was remarkable. He was a pillar of strength to Mrs. Ismail while he himself was grieving. Their personal tragedy did not stop them from continuing their good work for others not only in and around Colombo but also in the East from where Mrs. Ismail hails.
They have open house everyday…even to this day their gates are wide open. It is like an open warm invitation for people to walk in any time. But I hope saner counsel will prevail and Mrs. Ismail starts to close her gate!
Professor Ismail and Mrs. Ismail got to know each other as kids. Their friendship blossomed into a deep love for each other and theirs’ was ‘a marriage made in heaven’! Both of them complemented each other in every way.
He always encouraged her in all her activities. Even when his health was failing he wanted her to carry on with her work. He was never self-centred in any way.
My appreciation on Professor Ismail would not be complete if I do not write about his achievements in his medical career.
I quote from an appreciation written by Professor Nilanthi de Silva, at the time of his death last year.
“Prof Ismail was one of the earliest members of the Sri Lanka College of Microbiologists, serving as its 11th President, in 1987. In 2015, when the College decided to honour those who have served the College and our profession by awarding honorary Fellowships, the Council was unanimous in deciding that Prof Ismail should be among the first recipients of a Fellowship.
Mohamed Mahroof Ismail obtained his MBBS from the University of Ceylon and his PhD in Medical Parasitology from McGill University, Canada. He also spent a post-doctoral year at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in the UK. After his return to Sri Lanka, he worked at the MRI for several years and became its Director in 1983.
In the same year, he joined the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo as the Professor of Parasitology and later served as Dean of the Faculty from 1994 to 1996. Throughout his working life, Prof Ismail engaged in research, mostly on lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminths.
His work was of such quality that it had significant impact on national as well as international health policies in relation to control of both groups of infections.
The most significant body of work that he and his collaborators produced was to demonstrate for the first time that albendazole combined with diethylcarbamazine citrate or ivermectin has a pronounced and sustained effect of reducing microfilaraemia for over two years.
This combination is currently being successfully used by the WHO and the Ministries of Health in 83 endemic countries as part of the global strategy to eliminate filariasis.
Prof Ismail also held many eminent posts, serving as a member of the University Grants Commission, as the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medicine; and as external examiner in Parasitology of the University of Malaya as well as the National University of Malaysia.
He served the WHO at its Headquarters in Geneva, and in the South East Asian Regional Office in New Delhi in many different capacities: as Chairman of the WHO Expert Committee on Soil-Transmitted Helminthiases; as a member of the WHO Expert Committee on Lymphatic Filariasis and the WHO Technical Advisory Group for Lymphatic Filariasis; as a WHO Consultant to Egypt and Bangladesh to revise their National Filariasis Control Programmes; and Chairman of the South East Asian Programme Review Group for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis from 2002 until 2006.”
Though we miss Professor Ismail whenever we visit Mrs. Ismail, we feel his presence in spirit encouraging Mrs. Ismail in every way to continue all the good work both of them did together.