Raman Gangakhedkar is a prominent Indian scientist who is a G-Grade Scientist and Head of the Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases Department at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Dr. Gangakhedkar has become the face of the ICMR by frequently appearing on television screens to update the nation on the planning and execution of COVID-19 testing protocols.
Wiki/Biography
Dr. Raman Gangakdekar was born in 1962 (58 years old in 2020) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was very curious from childhood and developed a scientific temperament at an early age. He received his education in a Marathi-medium Zila Parishad school. He obtained his MBBS from the Government Medical College, Aurangabad. Dr. Gangakdekar also completed a one-year Master of Public Health training course from Johns Hopkins University, USA.
family
Dr. Raman Gangakdekar comes from a Marathi family. There is not much information about his family.
Profession
Dr. Gangakdekar is an eminent clinician and epidemiologist, known for his active involvement in formulating guidelines for HIV management as well as policies for national-level HIV/AIDS control programs. After completing his MBBS, he began his career as a pediatrician. In 1989, he entered the field of HIV/AIDS; at that time, this dreaded disease was nothing less than a stigma in India. Later, when the National AIDS Research Institute of India (NARI) was established in 1993, he moved from Mumbai to Pune.
Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar speaking in Pune
The face of AIDS control programmes in India
With his brilliant and articulate manner of expression, Dr. Gangakdekar became the face of AIDS control programs in India. Soon after joining NARI in 1993, he began emphasizing on community participation in controlling this dreaded disease. In an interview, while explaining the major milestones in HIV/AIDS management in India, he said,
Community involvement in decision-making has proven to be the most important factor in making a difference. In addition to community mobilization, it also involves representatives of sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs sitting with experts to give their input on policies and program strategies to reach them.”
Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar at a conference at NARI Pune
Another important step, according to Dr. Gangakdekar, was the state’s investment in the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PPTCT) programme for the mainstream population in 1999, which paved the way for free antiretroviral treatment for HIV-infected people for the first time in the country’s history. Dr. Gangakdekar played a major role in promoting the PPTCT programme in India. He said,
I realised that unless we targeted the mainstream population, we would not be able to make the system respond. I saw PPTCT as one of the key areas for mainstreaming because at that time (late 1990s), prevention of mother-to-child transmission was possible by providing a short course of zidovudine. I submitted a proposal to the Indian government, which was also supported by UNICEF, and a feasibility study was started in 11 centres using the zidovudine-based Bangkok regimen, which was later replaced by a more feasible single-dose nevirapine regimen. In 2001, the PPTCT programme was launched in India.”
When Dr. Gangakhedkar entered the field of HIV/AIDS, there was no treatment available in India and he often felt frustrated by only counseling patients. But he was determined to come up with his own way to find a solution to this dreaded disease. He conducted extensive research and tried to get first-hand information from hotspots of HIV infection. He said,
As a typical Indian male from a conservative Indian society, I initially felt very embarrassed when I started going to red-light districts to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS. I had no idea who these sex workers were and what kind of lives they led. But over time, I saw the problems they faced up close. This made me understand what social exclusion was and made me more committed to my cause.”
Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, NARI, Pune
With the government’s aggressive efforts, Dr. Gangakhedkar is confident that India will be free of AIDS by 2030. He said,
Only by improving the quality of services and strengthening our strategies can we achieve the final 90 per cent of the UNAIDS target of maintaining viral load suppression to eliminate HIV/AIDS.”
Dr. Raman discusses with senior researchers
The face of ICMR during COVID-19
After a long stint as Director of the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Dr. Gangakhedkar joined the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi as Scientist ‘G’ and Head of the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division. He became the face of ICMR as he appeared on the TV screens of the National Media Centre in New Delhi to update the nation on the current status of COVID-19. At one such media briefing, he justified the implementation of the lockdown in the country and stressed the need for basic medical awareness among people, saying,
If I ask any literate person, how many chambers does your heart have, or do you know where your spleen is? The spleen is one of the most powerful organs, it’s one of the most useful organs that protects your body very effectively, it’s part of what we call the reticuloendothelial system. People will not be able to answer. Now, if most literate people don’t know much about health, if you had to teach every ordinary citizen of this country about healthy lifestyles, whether they went to school or not, he would probably be only functionally literate. There was no other way except trying to impose a lockdown, trying to make sure people understood social distancing.
Dr Raman Gangakhedkar and other government officials briefing on the COVID-19 outbreak at the National Media Centre in Delhi
Facts/Trivia
- His colleagues consider him to be an articulate person with a good sense of humor.
Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar and colleagues
- He specializes in clinical epidemiology of HIV infection, mother-to-child transmission of HIV, management of HIV infection, and chemokine receptors.
- In 1996, he received the Fogarty Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.
- In 2020, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Shri for his contributions in the field of medical research. Receiving this honor, Dr. Gangakdekar said:
I was able to study SIDs infection in women and children. I feel that our efforts towards winning the Padma Shri award have gained some attention. This was only possible with the support of organizations working towards creating awareness about HIV/AIDS.”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education