Aalisha Sahukhan

Doctor Aalisha Sahukhan is the founding Head of Health Protection at the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services. In this role, she leads the Fiji Centre for Disease Control (Fiji CDC), the Environmental Health Unit, and the Health Emergencies and Climate Change department. Health Protection is also Fiji’s National Focal Point (NFP) for the International Health Regulations (2005). She also serves as lead representative of the Fiji IHR NFP.

Dr Sahukhan is a medical doctor specializing in public health and infectious disease epidemiology. She has chaired national health taskforces and led responses to multiple epidemics, including meningococcal C, measles, and leptospirosis. Dr Sahukhan was a health leadership team member, a national spokesperson, and technical lead for Fiji’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She represented Fiji at the Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies (WGPR) and was Fiji’s chief negotiator on the Member State Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR). She continues to lead negotiations for Fiji on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

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. She was appointed to the IHR Review Committee regarding amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) in 2022 and was also a member of the IHR Review Committees regarding Standing Recommendations for COVID-19 and mpox respectively. 

Dr Sahukhan is a medical graduate of the Fiji School of Medicine, and a Fulbright Scholar, graduating with a Master of Public Health and a Graduate Certificate in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.