S. V. Adinarayana Rao

Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana Rao was an Indian orthopaedic surgeon known for his work for poor and needy patients, above all people disabled by polio. Born on 30 June 1939 in Bhimavaram, he completed his medical degree in 1966 and a master degree in orthopaedic surgery at Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam in 1970, and trained in Germany in microvascular and hand surgery. He taught at Andhra Medical College, worked as a civil surgeon at King George Hospital, and after retiring from the Rani Chandramani Devi Hospital helped found the Prema Hospital, becoming Director-General of the Prema Group of hospitals and institutions and managing trustee of the Free Polio Surgical and Research Foundation. He held about one thousand orthopaedic camps across India and is credited with more than three lakh surgeries. He received a national award in 1988 and the Padma Shri in 2022, and he died on 17 January 2026.