Oxford Festival of Global Health - 'Lovesick'
The Oxford Festival of Global Health was launched in autumn 2023. The Festival brings together people interested in global health, and provides a forum to share knowledge, foster collaboration and generate discussion as to how to tackle current pertinent challenges of global health.

This event will include a screening of Lovesick, followed by a panel discussion and a social event.

In 1986, Dr Suniti Solomon discovered India’s first case of HIV. But without medicines, she could only console patients who “other doctors weren’t even willing to touch.” She quit her prestigious academic post in microbiology and founded YRG CARE, one of India’s first HIV/AIDS clinics.

Back then, HIV was a death sentence. Today, thanks to affordable generic drugs, Dr Solomon’s patients live longer, healthier lives – and, like all young Indians, face the pressure to marry. At 72, in the twilight of her career, Dr Solomon finds herself in a new role: marriage matchmaker.

LOVESICK interweaves Dr Solomon’s unconventional personal and professional journeys with the lives of two patients: Karthik, a reticent bachelor, and Manu, a bubbly IT professional who, like many women in India, was infected by her first husband. As Karthik and Manu search for love, they learn how to survive under the shadow of HIV.

Eight years in the making, LOVESICK is a surprising portrait of modern love in the age of AIDS.
Date: 7 March 2024, 16:00 (Thursday, 8th week, Hilary 2024)
Venue: Screen 2, capacity 150
Speakers: Dr Toral Gathani (University of Oxford), Professor Christophe Fraser (University of Oxford), Dr Tanvi Rai (University of Oxford), Dr Priya Lall (University of Oxford)
Organising department: Nuffield Department of Population Health
Organisers: Hannah Calkin (Oxford Population Health), Dr Toral Gathani (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: events@ndph.ox.ac.uk
Part of: OxPop Festival of Global Health
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://forms.office.com/e/ahksEJ4hL7
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editors: Hannah Calkin, Isobel Young