Suniti Solomon

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Suniti Solomon ( Hindi : सुनीती सोलोमन, Tamil : சுனிதி சாலமன்; born 1938 or 1939 in Chennai ; died on July 28, 2015 there ) was an Indian medical doctor and microbiologist . She was a pioneer in medical AIDS research and prevention in India after she and her student Sellappan Nirmala discovered the first Indian AIDS cases among prostitutes in Chennai in 1986.

In 1993 she founded the YR Gaitonde Center for AIDS Research and Education in Chennai. The Indian Ministry of Science and Technology presented her with the National Women Bio-scientist Award in 2009 . In 2017, the Indian government posthumously awarded her the Padma Shri award for her contributions to medicine.

life and work

Family and education

Suniti Solomon was born as Suniti Gaitonde into a Maharashtra Hindu family of leather merchants in Chennai. She was the seventh child in a family of eight and the only daughter. In a 2009 interview, she said that she had become interested in medicine and vaccinations through the annual health officer visits to her home .

She studied medicine at Madras Medical College and then trained in pathology in Great Britain, the United States and Australia until she returned to Chennai in 1973 with her husband Victor Solomon because "she felt that her services were more needed in India" . She did her PhD in microbiology and then went to the Institute of Microbiology at Madras Medical College.

Medical career

In her previous professional life abroad, Solomon worked as an intern at King's College Hospital in London. Upon her return to India, Salomon worked as a microbiologist at Madras Medical College and became a professor. Following the literature on the clinical descriptions of AIDS in 1981 and the discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 1983, she decided in 1986 to test 100 female prostitutes for the virus. Six of the hundred blood samples were found to be HIV positive. Solomon later sent the samples to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for a second test, which confirmed the result. This discovery became the first HIV documentation in India. Since then, Salomon has devoted her life to researching, treating, and raising awareness of HIV and AIDS. She has described how people avoid HIV-infected people; even her husband did not want her to work with HIV-positive patients, most of whom were homosexuals, drug addicts and prostitutes. She was one of the first people to speak openly about HIV and the stigma associated with it, and she said, "What kills people with AIDS is primarily the stigma and discrimination."

From 1988 to 1993, Solomon established the first AIDS Resource Group in India, which was established at Madras Medical College and provided a variety of AIDS research and social services. The group was also the first comprehensive HIV / AIDS facility in India ahead of any other private and public organization. In 1993, Solomon founded the YR Gaitonde Center for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), which she named after her father. It was one of the first places in India for voluntary HIV counseling and testing. By 2015, around 100 outpatients came to the facility every day and 15,000 patients were regularly cared for. The center and its work there have been described as "significant factors in slowing the [HIV] epidemic". She also taught other doctors and students about HIV and its treatment. She was nicknamed the "AIDS Doctor of Chennai" and became President of the AIDS Society of India.

Solomon has also worked on international research, including a cross-country HIV / STD prevention study at the US National Institute of Mental Health , the HIV Prevention Trials Network of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , an NIH study on HIV stigma in healthcare in South India and a Phase III study with 6% CS GEL, a microbicide candidate from CONRAD (organization) .

Personal

Suniti Solomon met her husband, cardiac surgeon Victor Solomon, while she was studying medicine at Madras College. She followed him to Great Britain, the United States and Australia. Victor Solomon died in 2006. Their son Sunil Solomon became an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Two months before her death on July 28, 2015, Suniti Solomon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died at her home in Chennai at the age of 76.

Awards

Suniti Solomon has received numerous awards for her work, including

  • 2001 Award for Breakthrough Work in HIV / AIDS from the State Medical School of India
  • 2005 a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on HIV from the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society
  • 2006 Honorary Doctorate from Brown University , United States
  • 2009 the 'National Women Bio-scientist Award' from the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology
  • 2010 membership in the National Academy of Medical Sciences
  • 2012 the Lifetime Achievement Award for Service on HIV / AIDS from the State Dr MGR Medical University in Chennai
  • 2017 the "Padma Shri" award (posthumously) of the Indian government for her outstanding services in the field of medicine

Publications (selection)

  • Suniti Solomon, S. Subramadam, M. Madanagopolan: In vitro sensitivity of enteric bacteria to epicillin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin and furazolidone. Current Medical Research and Opinion 4 (3), 1976; Pp. 229-232. doi: 10.1185 / 03007997609109309 , PMID 985743
  • Suniti Solomon, N. Kumarasamy, SA Jayaker Paul, R. Venilla, RE Amairaj: Spectrum of opportunistic infections among AIDS patients in Tamil Nadu, India. International Journal of STD & AIDS 6 (6), 1995; Pp. 447-449. doi: 10.1177 / 095646249500600615 , PMID 8845406
  • N. Kumarasamy, S. Solomon, SA Jayaker Paul, R. Edwin, S. Sridhar: Neurological manifestations in aids patients in South India. Journal of Neuroimmunology 63 (1), 1995; P. 100. doi: 10.1016 / 0165-5728 (96) 80989-1
  • S. Solomon, H. Madhaven, J. Biswas, N. Kumarasamy: Blepharitis and lid ulcer as initial ocular manifestation in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology 45 (4), 1997; Pp. 233-234
  • S. Solomon, N. Kumarasamy, AK: Ganesh, R. Amairaj: Prevalence and risk factors of HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in urban and rural areas in Tamil Nadu, India. International Journal of STD & AIDS 9 (2); Pp. 98-103. doi: 10.1258 / 0956462981921756 PMID 9506375

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Manu Balachandran: The doctor who detected India's first HIV case has died . Quartz India. July 29, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  2. ^ S. Solomon, SS Solomon, AK Ganesh: AIDS in India. Postgraduate Medical Journal 82 (971), NCBI 2006; Pp. 545-547. doi: 10.1136 / pgmj.2006.044966 , PMID 16954447
  3. ^ A b c Freedom to live with HIV - Suniti Solomon . In: Live mint , HT Media Ltd, August 14, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2015.  
  4. ↑ a b c d e Jeremy Laurance: Suniti Solomon. The Lancet, 386 (10006), Nov. 7, 2015; S. 1818. Full text , doi: 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (15) 00772-2 , PMID 26843302
  5. ↑ About Us / Our Founder . Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Remembering Dr. Solomon . In: The Hindu . Retrieved July 16, 2016.  
  7. ↑ a b c Suniti Solomon, who woke India up to HIV threat, dies at 76 . July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ a b c d Preventing HIV Infection among Injecting Drug Users in High Risk Countries . Google Book, December 20, 2006, ISBN 978-0-309-10280-3, (accessed September 26, 2016).
  9. ↑ a b About Us / The History . YR Gaitonde Center for AIDS Research and Education. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  10. ^ A b c Arun Janardhanan: Dr Suniti Solomon, who pioneered HIV research and treatment in India, passes away . July 29, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  11. ↑ a b Dr Suniti Solomon, part of team who detected HIV, passes away . Rediff. July 28, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  12. ↑ Suniti Solomon, Doctor Who Awakened India To HIV, Passes Away . Huffington Post. July 28, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  13. ^ The woman who discovered India's first HIV cases . In: Geeta Pandey . BBC . August 30, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  14. ^ List of Fellows - NAMS . National Academy of Medical Sciences. 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  15. ↑ In 2017, Padma Awards to honor unsung heroes of healthcare , Medical Dialogues. January 27, 2017.  
  16. ↑ PadmaAwards-2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Solomon, Suniti
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian medic and microbiologist, the pioneer of medical AIDS research and prevention in India
DATE OF BIRTH 1938 or 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Chennai
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 2015
Place of death Chennai