Suniti Solomon

Suniti Solomon(1938 or 1939 – 28 July 2015) was an Indianphysicianand microbiologist who pioneeredAIDSresearch and prevention inIndiaafter having diagnosed the first Indian AIDS cases inChennaiin 1985.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. On 25 January 2017, Government of India announced "Padma Shri"award for her contribution towards Medicine.

Early life and education

Suniti Solomon, or Suniti Gaitonde as her maiden name, was born in a Maharashtrian Hindu family of the leather traders in Chennai. She was the seventh child in a family of eight and was the only daughter.In a 2009 interview she said she became interested in medicine from the yearly health officer visits to their home for vaccinations.

She studied medicine atMadras Medical Collegeand then was trained in pathology in the UK, the U.S. and Australia until 1973 when she and her husband, Victor Solomon, returned to Chennai, because "she felt her services were more needed in India." She did her doctorate in microbiologyand joined the faculty of the Institute of Microbiology in Madras Medical College afterwards.

Career

In her earlier career life abroad, Solomon had worked as a junior physician at King’s College Hospital, London.After returning to India, Solomon worked as a microbiologist at Madras Medical College and rose to the rank of professor.She followed the literature about the clinical descriptions of AIDS in 1981,discovery of HIVin 1983 and by 1986 decided to test 100 female sex workers, as India had no openly gay community. Six of the one hundred blood samples turned out to be HIV positive. Solomon later sent the samples toJohns Hopkins Universityin Baltimore for a retest which confirmed the result.This discovery became the first HIV documentation in India.Since then, Solomon decided to dedicate her life working on HIV/AIDS research, treatment, and awareness. 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. Solomon replied by "you have to listen to their stories and you wouldn’t say the same thing."Solomon was one of the first people who spoke openly about HIV and the stigma along it, she once stated "what is killing people with AIDS more is the stigma and discrimination."

From 1988 to 1993, Solomon set up the first AIDS Resource Group in India founded at the MMC and ran a variety of AIDS research and social services. The group was also the first comprehensive HIV/AIDS facility in India before any private and public sectors.In 1993, Solomon established the 'Y R Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education' (YRG CARE) after the name of her father.It was 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 provide education to other doctors and students about HIV and its treatment.She obtained the name of "the AIDS doctor of Chennaiand served as the President of the AIDS Society of India.

Solomon also collaborated in international research studies, including a multi-country HIV/STD Prevention Trial at the USNational Institute of Mental Health,theHIV Prevention Trials Networkrun by the USNational 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 6% CS GEL, a candidate microbicide ofCONRAD (organization).

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 atJohns Hopkins Universityin Baltimore. She was diagnosed withpancreatic cancer2 months before she death on July 28, 2015, in her home in Chennai, at the age of 76.

Awards

Solomon received the following awards:

• 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) byBrown University,USA
• In 2009, 'National Women Bio-scientist Award' by the Indian ministry of science and technology.
• In 2010, Fellowship of theNational Academy of Medical Sciences.
• 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.
• In 2017 Government of India announced "Padma Shri" award ( posthumous) for her distinguished service in the field of medicine

Work

• Suniti Solomon, S Subramadam, M Madanagopolan:In vitro sensitivity of enteric bacteria to epicillin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin and furazolidone.In:Current Medical Research and Opinion.4. Jahrgang,Nr.3,1976,S.229–232,doi:10.1185/03007997609109309.
• S Solomon, N Kumarasamy, S A Jayaker Paul, R Venilla, R E Amairaj:Spectrum of opportunistic infections among AIDS patients in Tamil Nadu, India.In:International journal of STD & AIDS.6. Jahrgang,Nr.6,1995,S.447.
• N Kumarasamy, S Solomon, S A Jayaker Paul, R Edwin, S Sridhar:Neurological manifestations in aids patients in South India.In:Journal of Neuroimmunology.63. Jahrgang,Nr.1,1995,S.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 syndome patients.In:Indian Journal of Ophthalmology.45. Jahrgang,Nr.4,1997,S.233–234.
• S Solomon, N Kumarasamy, A K Ganesh, R Amairaj:Prevalence and risk factors of HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in urban and rural areas in Tamil Nadu, India.In:International Journal of STD & AIDS.9. Jahrgang,Nr.2,1998,S.98–103,doi:10.1258/0956462981921756.