Charles Senessie



The President of Afro-European Medical and Research Network (AEMRN) Dr med Charles Senessie had his medical Education at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Since his early school days, he always had the vision of voluntary services to the underprevileged people and together with a lifelong friend James Wallace-Kargbo, would always spend their summer vacation in rural areas of Sierra Leone with either Voluntary Workcamps Association of Sierra Leone (VWASL), Rotary club, Boys scout movement or The President youth Award Scheme helping in various community projects. This included projects such as agriculture, serving handicapped children in their group homes, building of community recreational parks, replanting of mangrove trees in swamps to rehabilitate and protect the ecosystem or in deforestated hills to prevent erosion and likewise protect the flora and fauna.

Upon his entry into the Medical school, he was member of various student groups including President of the Students Union and was founder and first President of the medical school branch of (VWASL). Under the objectives of the organisation, they organised various workshops and seminars on topical issues such as HIV/AIDS. They also extended their services to the poor people in the villages and organised series of medical camps in the rural communities of surrounding villages of Tombo in Western Area of Sierra Leone, Moyamba in Southern province and Port Loko and in Northern Sierra Leone. Thus, every long Summer vacations, a medical camp comprising of local and international doctors, medical students, nurses and nursing students as well as other students from constituent colleges of the university of Sierra Leone, would take health to the rural people in their natural settings. From the main town, mobile clinics went out everyday to the surrounding villages. Health educational awareness programmes formed the focus of attention in addition to clinical treatment and minor laboratory investigations. The medical camp due to its international, multicultural and multidisciplinary nature was a very good breeding-ground for cross-cultural exchange and experience sharing between the campers themselves as well as the villagers they were treating, hence minimising cultural shock and contributing to global peace. It was a pity the escalation of civil war in the country forced this wonderful venture to a stop.

During his medical training, Dr Senessie expressed keen interest in Dermato-venereology including the one single virus threatening the existence of humanity in general and the African population in particular- HIV/AIDS. He was employed in the department of internal medicine of the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences in the University of Sierra Leone and gave lectures on Dermatology to clinical year students

He was later president of the African AIDS Research Network (AARN) for west and Central Africa representing Sierra Leone and presented series of papers on the topic at home and abroad. He was also Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association and held series of other leadership roles.

Dr Senessie is founder of the Afro-European Medical and Research Network (AEMRN). He has worked in Switzerland for a while as Research assistant in the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern and is currently working as a clinician in Bern Switzerland.

He is at the same time pursuing postgraduate studies- Masters of Science ( MSc) Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London and also MPH (Masters in Public Health), Inter-University postgraduate programme of the Universities of Bern, Basel and Zurich in Switzerland.

He is member of the Swiss Public Health Society, International AIDS Society, International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC ) in USA, Canadian Association of HIV Researchers, British HIV Society, African AIDS Research Network and European AIDS Clinical Society and Swiss Medical Association (FMH), Association of medical doctor (VSAO).