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Drugmaker Cipla has paid tributes to AIDS pioneer Dr Suniti Solomon, recalling their work together during the early days when the illness was diagnosed in the country. Dr Solomon passed away earlier this week in Chennai.
Dr Solomon, professor of microbiology at Madras Medical College, was the first to identify HIV among Indians in 1986 while many were still denying its reality, Cipla said in a statement.
In 1993, Dr Solomon had created YR Gaitonde (YRG) to support AIDS Research and Education and welcomed patients. “Whereas the first AIDS patients were often isolated, stigmatised and sometimes left unattended by doctors and staff in other hospitals, she listened to them, cared for them, and proved an example for the whole Indian medical community to follow,” the note said.
“For us at Cipla, we worked closely with Dr Solomon in the long journey to treat AIDS patients. In 1993 when Dr Solomon created YRG, we produced our first anti-AIDS drug, AZT, and we have worked alongside her ever since,” it added.
“Dr Solomon was available, supportive, smiling and above all, always at the forefront of scientific knowledge whether she was organising clinical trials in YRG Care for new therapies or presenting results in international conferences,” the Mumbai-based company said. Cipla was itself an early-mover on AIDS drugs, bringing down the price of these drugs for patients, particularly in Africa, way back in 2001.
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