Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan

Winner of the Gilead & Kite Campaigner for Health Equity Award

Her work in sexual health and HIV medicine in East London has given Rageshri unique insight into people in marginalised communities who face a lot of stigma because of the conditions they have.

“Seeing how people in migrant communities or LGBTQ+ communities struggle to get the healthcare they need has driven both my clinical and my research work. The first research project I did was looking at intimate partner violence experienced by women living with HIV. We discovered that at over half it was double the general population.

My clinical practice has provided the evidence for the policy organisations I work with, which are responsible for writing care guidelines, so it does feel as if I’m making a difference. The HIV community have a massive and really active patient community who are very loud and good at driving change. Working with them as well means we can really get things done.

Patient involvement is something I’m very much focusing on going forward. Twelve years ago I was admitted to hospital with complications of fertility treatment and didn’t get the pain relief I needed in spite of being a doctor. That led me to write my book, Unheard, The Medical Practice of Silencing. I was worried that it would affect my colleague’s opinion of me, but it’s gone down really well amongst healthcare professionals and is helping awareness that this is something we need to work on.

Being recognised outside of the health field in this way is amazing and quite overwhelming. Hopefully it will help amplify some of the messages I want to share about the importance of health equity.”

Who is the woman who has inspired you?

There’s a law scholar in America called Dorothy Roberts who has done a lot of work looking at racial health inequalities and racism in healthcare, something that certainly wasn’t taught in medical school. When I read her work and watched her amazing TED talk it had a massive impact on my thinking, research and practice.

What advice would you give your younger self?

To be less afraid of speaking up. I’ve always been very shy and I wish I’d spoken out more when I was younger. My book is about amplifying voices, I’m better at amplifying my own now, but it took a long time.

What’s one thing you can’t live without?

That’d be fiction books. I just love to read. It’s my way of relaxing. I’m not fussy about the genre, anything good that grips me will do.

What’s one thing that would surprise people to know about you?

I have an IMDB page as an actress. Because of my work I’m on the Medical Board of a charity called NAS and they got funding to make a film which looks to raise conversation around HIV amongst African communities. Some of it was filmed in our clinic and they needed someone to be a doctor. So I played a doctor with my name (not too much of an acting stretch!) and as a result you’ll find me listed on IMDB.