Dr Aalisha Sahukhan is a medical doctor specialising in public health and infectious disease epidemiology. Dr Sahukhan is the founding Head of Health Protection at the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, where she leads the Fiji Centre for Disease Control (Fiji CDC), the Environmental Health Unit, and the Health Emergencies and Climate Change department.
Dr Sahukhan has led responses to epidemics of infectious disease including meningococcal C, measles, and leptospirosis, and is a health leadership team member, a national spokesperson, and technical lead, for Fiji’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Sahukhan is a member of the International Health Regulations (2005) Roster of Experts as an expert in public health, including infectious disease epidemiology and emergency management. In 2022, Dr Sahukhan was appointed by the WHO Director General as a member of the IHR Review Committee regarding amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005). She was also recently appointed as a member of the the first Review Committees for Standing Recommendations under the IHR (2005) for COVID-19 and mpox respectively.
Dr Sahukhan is Fiji’s chief negotiator to the WHO Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and the Working Group on amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (WGIHR).
Dr Sahukhan is also a member of the Technical Advisory Panel of the Pandemic Fund, hosted at the World Bank.
