The Padma Shri awards have spotlighted a quiet revolution in India’s fight against visceral leishmaniasis, commonly known as Kala-Azar. BHU’s Professor Shyam Sundar Agarwal, whose 38-year odyssey transformed treatment paradigms, is among the honorees announced ahead of Republic Day.
Born in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, ground zero for Kala-Azar epidemics that killed thousands amid poverty, Agarwal witnessed firsthand the system’s failures. Diagnostics dragged on for 3-4 weeks at exorbitant costs; treatments faltered, succeeding in only one-third of cases with deadly relapses.
Unyielding, he debuted the RK-39 strip, pioneering instant diagnosis and earning global praise. As drugs lost efficacy, Agarwal influenced policy shifts, co-designing the 1990s national control initiative and leading innovative research.
Key milestones: WHO-backed single-dose liposomal Amphotericin-B, now central to elimination efforts; multi-drug therapy rollout at grassroots levels using Paromomycin-Miltefosine combos; and Miltefosine’s path to approval via his trials. His 2002 study on 300 patients validated oral options with near-perfect results, despite logistical hurdles.
In reflections post-announcement, Agarwal credits collective effort over personal glory, calling himself ‘an ordinary human.’ This accolade, shared with another BHU colleague, validates decades of toil that brought India closer to wiping out Kala-Azar. It serves as a clarion call for sustained investment in neglected diseases, honoring a scientist whose work transcends borders.