Dr Balaji Sadasivan was Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs when he passed away in September 2010. A former neurosurgeon who gave up medicine to enter politics, Dr Balaji was elected Chairman of the World Health Organisation Executive Board in 2007. He was instrumental in the passing of international healthcare regulations on the management of epidemics and pandemics, and authored over 50 publications on neurosurgery.

Appointed Chairman of the National AIDS Policy Committee in 2006, Dr Balaji was a proponent of HIV education in schools and workplaces; he also encouraged early and regular HIV testing, and championed the implementation of universal antenatal testing.

Building capability in the healthcare sector through the Balaji Sadasivan Endowment