Biography · Published 2023
The Blunting of an Epidemic
A photographic account of Dr. Gilada’s work and India’s long response to HIV and AIDS, written by journalists Jayashree Shetty and Gopal Shetty.
Read about the bookThe Book
Two records of a life’s work.
Stories, choices and public-health work from Dr. Ishwar Gilada’s journey.
The written record
These books preserve two complementary views of the same body of work: one documented from outside, and one told in Dr. Gilada's own voice.
BiographyA photographic record of India's HIV response and the people who shaped it.MemoirA first-person account of medicine, public health, humanity and hope.
Memoir · Coming soon
Infectious Intimacies
Stories from the frontlines of HIV, humanity and hope, written by Dr. Ishwar Gilada.
The two books at a glance
One life, told twice.
Told from outside
The Blunting of an Epidemic
- Subtitle
- A Courageous War on AIDS
- Authors
- Jayashree Shetty and Gopal Shetty
- Published
- May 2023
- Hindi edition
- December 2024
- Subject
- Four decades of Dr. Gilada's fight against HIV/AIDS
Told in his own voice
Infectious Intimacies
- Author
- Dr. Ishwar Gilada
- Status
- Coming soon
- Subject
- His experience treating patients with sexually transmitted infections and sexual-health problems
Who these books are for
For anyone who wants to understand how India met an epidemic.
Readers new to the story
A human way into the early years of HIV in India, told through the people who chose to respond rather than look away.
Doctors and students
A view of what clinical courage, patient trust and public-health work look like in practice, over a career of more than four decades.
Patients and families
A reminder that the dignity and openness found in the consulting room did not appear by accident. It was built, patient by patient, over many years.
The work behind the books
Why there is a book to write.
- 1985–86Raises an early national alarm about AIDS and establishes India's first AIDS clinic at J.J. Hospital, Mumbai.
- 1995Opens India's first private HIV clinic, Unison, which has cared for more than 7,700 patients.
- 1998 onwardChampions “patients before patents” and affordable access to HIV treatment.
- Four decadesTrains thousands of doctors, nurses, counsellors and students, and publishes or presents 325 scientific papers.
Why these stories matter
Medicine remembered through people.
Witness
A record of the early HIV epidemic, the uncertainty surrounding it and the people who chose to respond.
Humanity
Stories about the trust, courage and intimacy that exist alongside diagnosis, treatment and public-health work.
Continuity
A bridge between pioneering work in the past and the values that continue to shape care at Unison today.
More than a book
The clinic is part of the continuing story.
Explore the milestones behind the work, meet the clinical team carrying it forward, or speak with Unison about care today.