KUCHING: The Sarawak Infectious Disease Centre (SIDC) headquarters has reached 80 per cent completion as of April 2026, with development expenditure amounting to RM143 million, further strengthening Sarawak’s position as a strategic regional hub for biomedical and infectious disease research.

Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said for 2026, the Sarawak Government has allocated RM33 million for the implementation of tuberculosis (TB), cervical cancer elimination efforts and vaccine development programmes.

According to him, SIDC is also actively conducting surveillance on various infectious diseases including TB, malaria, dengue, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), rabies and filariasis, with the expansion of implementation throughout Sarawak expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

“SIDC is also strengthening international collaborations with selected universities in Germany, Thailand, Australia and the United Kingdom,” he said.

He said this during his ministerial winding-up session at the 19th Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on Monday.

Dato Sri Roland Sagah added that SIDC has also become the first institution in ASEAN to operate the AXINON NMR system, a software-based modular system for automated clinical diagnostics.

He further said that SIDC is currently spearheading the Sarawak Vaccine Development Programme under VaxBioD 2026-2030 while advancing genomic sequencing technology for precision medicine through collaboration with Estonia. -UKASnews

Prepared by: Grace John Lee
Photo: Ibanez Jeffery
Translator: Uilson Ng