Nalini Parthasarathi

Nalini Parthasarathi is a paediatrician known for her work in medical teaching, child health and care for people with haemophilia in Puducherry, where she is sometimes called the Mother Teresa of Puducherry. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of medicine, from Puducherry ^[1].

Fifty years in medicine

She was born on 28 May 1944 ^[2]. After graduating from Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in Tiruchirappalli, she studied medicine and paediatrics at JIPMER, the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research ^[2]. She joined JIPMER as a senior resident in 1970 and rose to director-professor of paediatrics by 2003 ^[2]. She then spent seven years as professor and head of paediatrics at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences ^[2]. Families from Puducherry and the nearby districts of Tamil Nadu came to know her for the gentle way she treated children ^[2].

A society for haemophilia

For about 30 years she has looked after people with haemophilia, a disorder in which blood does not clot properly, and helped build up the specialty in the territory ^[2]. She founded the Haemophilia Society of Puducherry and became its first president, and set up diagnostic and laboratory services at JIPMER for regular care ^[2]. With help from the Puducherry government and Indian Oil Corporation, the society, which runs on donations, put up its own building; she gives it a lakh of rupees every year and gave ten lakh in 2021 to expand it ^[2].

The society helps children and students with haemophilia pay for their education, and she started a self-help group for women who carry the condition and a youth group for young people living with it ^[2]. Through her efforts, free clotting factor treatment is now available at JIPMER and at government hospitals in Puducherry and Karaikal ^[2].