Better health facilities in Sarawak will also benefit its neighbours - Abang Johari

KUCHING: Sarawak’s plan to improve its health facilities will not only benefit its people but will also lessen the burden of people in Sabah and neighbouring countries to seek medical treatment, said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He said Sarawak’s health facilities will be further improved over the next five years following plans to expand its hospital bed capacity, as well as investments from two foreign groups.

He said the state-owned Normah Medical Centre would have an additional 300 beds through its expansion plan, while a Singapore-based company had committed to building another private hospital with about the same bed capacity, to be situated in the Tabuan Jaya area here.

“One more (private hospital) in the Batu Lintang area with a 300-bed capacity. In other words, within these five years, we will have an additional 1,000 beds to be run by the private sector,” he said.

Speaking to officiate at the 8th Asia Pacific Conference on Public Health 2024 here tonight, he said the state government would commence the development of a federal government cancer treatment centre in Kota Samarahan here with state funds first and would be reimbursed later.

“What the state government is doing is to upgrade the facilities for the people here and for that matter, our neighbours. If Sarawak has a cancer centre, people from Sabah also can come here (for treatment),” he added.

About 700 people from the Asia-Pacific region are taking part in the three-day biennial conference, which started today. It is aimed at building a resilient health workforce, fostering innovations and addressing critical public health issues.