About Balaji Sadasivan
Balaji Sadasivan (11 July 1955 – 27 September 2010) was a Singaporean politician and neurosurgeon. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Minister of State for the Ministry of the Environment (2001–2003), Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transport (2001–2004); and subsequently Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Health (2004–2006), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006–2010) and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (2004–2008). He was also a Member of Parliament representing the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency from 2001 to 2010. Balaji was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) and a Fellow of Harvard University. He worked as a neurosurgeon until 2001, publishing over 50 book chapters and journal articles. In 2007, he was appointed chairman of the executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2008, Balaji was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and underwent surgical removal of a malignant tumour. Following a relapse of his cancer, Balaji died in his sleep on 27 September 2010 at the age of 55 years, having suffered internal bleeding the previous night. In May 2007, he was appointed Chairman of the WHO Executive Board, the first time a Singaporean had been so elected since the nation became a member of WHO. The electoral division, helmed by the Lee Hsien Loong (who became Prime Minister on 12 August 2004), was not contested, and Balaji was declared elected to Parliament on 25 October 2001. He also trained at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, from 1985 to 1989, and became a Fellow of Harvard University in 1990.
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