The Quiet Warrior Against HIV
A story of Padma Shri Dr. Alaka Keshav Deshpande

In the wards of Mumbai’s J.J. Hospital, a physician named Alaka Keshav Deshpande saw a new and frightening illness arrive in the late 1980s. While many turned away, she stepped forward. In 1990 she opened the city’s first dedicated HIV outpatient department, creating a space where patients could receive care without stigma.

She went on to establish and lead the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centre from 2003–04 until 2011, often working without drawing a salary for that service. Day after day she treated patients, counselled families, trained younger doctors and fought the twin battles of the virus and social rejection.

One evening a colleague asked her, “Why take on this work when it brings so much difficulty and so little recognition?”

Alaka answered quietly, “Because every person living with HIV is still a human being who deserves dignity and treatment. If we look away, the disease wins twice—once in the body and once in the heart.”

Her steadfast service earned the respect of patients and the medical community. In 2001 the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri for her contributions to medicine and social work. She continued her commitment long after the formal recognition, remaining a trusted figure in HIV care in Mumbai.

On 30 December 2025, Dr. Alaka Keshav Deshpande passed away at the age of seventy-nine. Yet the clinics she helped build, the patients she treated without judgement, and the example she set continue her quiet creed:

“See the person, not only the disease. Offer care without stigma. Stand firm when others turn away. And never forget that compassion is also a form of medicine.”