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Suniti Solomon

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Suniti Solomon (1938 or 1939 – 28 July 2015) was an Indian physician and microbiologist who pioneered AIDS research and prevention in India after having diagnosed the first Indian AIDS cases in Chennai in 1985.[1] She founded the Y R Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education in Chennai. The Indian government conferred the National Women Bio-scientist Award on her.[2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Suniti Solomon was born Gaitonde, a family in the leather trade in Chennai. She had seven brothers.[6] In a 2009 interview she said she became interested in medicine with yearly healthofficer visits to their home for vaccinations.[7]

She studied medicine at Madras Medical College and then trained in pathology in the U.K., the U.S. and Australia until 1973, She and her husband returned to her native Chennai, because "she felt her services were more needed in India." She did her doctorate in microbiology.[6]

Career

Solomon worked as a microbiologist at Madras Medical College and rose to the rank of professor.[2] She followed the literature about the clinical descriptions of AIDS in 1981, discovery of HIV in 1983 and by 1986 decided to test 100 female sex workers, as India had no openly gay community. Six of those turned out to be HIV positive. Solomon became aware of human trafficking in India and decided to dedicate her life work to HIV, especially in women, since then. She has described how people shunned HIV infected persons; even her husband did not want her "to work with HIV-positive patients, most of whom at that time were homosexuals, those who self-injected drugs and sex workers. And I said, look, you have to listen to their stories and you wouldn’t say the same thing."[7]

Solomon was one of the first people who spoke openly about HIV and she "encountered huge opposition". In 1993, she founded the 'Y R Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education' (YRG CARE), one of India's first places for voluntary HIV counselling and testing. AS of 2015, 100 outpatients were seen there daily and 15 000 patients were on regular follow-up. The centre and her work there have been described as "significant factors in slowing the [HIV] epidemic". She also educated other doctors about HIV and its treatment.[6]

Solomon collaborated in international research studies, like the US National Institute of Mental Health's a multi-country HIV/STD Prevention Trial, the HIV Prevention Trials Network run by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an NIH study of the HIV stigma in health care settings in Southern India, and a Phase III study of a microbiocidal gel, a candidate of CONRAD (organization).[3]

Personal life

Solomon met her husband, Victor Solomon, a cardiac surgeon, when studying medicine at Madras College. She "followed his travels" to the UK, US and Australia. He died in 2006. Their son Sunil Solomon is an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 2 months before she died, on July 28, 2015, in her home in Chennai, at the age of 76 years.[6]

Awards

Solomon received the following awards:[4]

  • In 2001, award for pioneering work on HIV/AIDS by the state run medical varsity.
  • In 2005 a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on HIV by Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society
  • In 2006, DMS (Honoris Cusa) by Brown University, USA
  • In 2009, 'National Women Bio-scientist Award' by the Indian ministry of science and technology.
  • In 2010, Fellowship of the National Academy of Medical Sciences.[8]
  • In 2012, 'Lifetime Achievement Award for Service on HIV/AIDS' by the state-run Dr MGR Medical University in Chennai.
  • and several other awards, like the 'Mother Teresa Memorial Award' for education and humanitarian services.

References

  1. ^ Sania Farooqui (29 July 2015). "Dr. Suniti Solomon, Pioneering Indian HIV/AIDS Researcher, Dies at 76". Time (magazine).
  2. ^ a b "Suniti Solomon, who woke India up to HIV threat, dies at 76". The Times of India. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Dr Suniti Solomon, who pioneered HIV research and treatment in India, passes away". Arun Janardhanan. Indian Express. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Dr Suniti Solomon, part of team who detected HIV, passes away". Rediff. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Suniti Solomon, Doctor Who Awakened India To HIV, Passes Away". Huffington Post. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Jeremy Laurance (7 November 2015). "Suniti Solomon". The Lancet. 386 (10006): 1818. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00772-2. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  7. ^ a b Anupama Chandrasekaran (14 August 2009). "Freedom to live with HIV — Suniti Solomon". Live mint. HT Media Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  8. ^ "List of Fellows - NAMS" (PDF). National Academy of Medical Sciences. 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
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