He said the rising cost of medicine and the need to cater for the growth of an ageing population had worsened the burden on healthcare financing.

Sim, who is state minister for public health, said global healthcare costs had become unpredictable, influenced by policies such as the tariff regime imposed by US president Donald Trump.

“Trump imposed a 15% tariff on healthcare products. He could suddenly change it to 10%, tomorrow it could be 100 %, after that 15% — we don’t know. But it’s very expensive,” he said at a community health event in Kuching, Dayak Daily reported.

He said the RM46.5 billion federal allocation, the second-largest in the 2026 budget, was equivalent to the cost of buying up all the shophouses across major towns like Kuching, Sibu and Miri, yet was still not enough to meet the nation’s healthcare needs.

For Sarawak alone, RM17 billion was needed to deal with dilapidated clinics and hospitals, he said. The federal health ministry and the Sarawak government had also identified the need to create 11,000 new posts, driven by the expansion of facilities such as the Sarawak Heart Centre and the ongoing shortage of medical staff.

The additional positions would involve substantial financial implications; even at the minimum wage level, the salaries alone would amount to millions annually, he said.