Mindef to spend S$90m to upgrade DSO biosafety lab to deal with more severe viruses

THE Defence Ministry (Mindef) is spending about S$90 million to upgrade the DSO Biosafety Lab to handle biological threats and highly infectious diseases.

The money will allow DSO National Laboratories - the largest defence research and development organisation in Singapore - to work with the Ministry of Health to upgrade the facilities within DSO to the highest bio-safety level, which is Level 4 (BSL-4).

Mindef said on Monday that the lab will provide Singapore with the capability to safely handle, assess and develop counter-measures against more severe forms of viruses.

The ministry is planning for the lab to be situated at the DSO facility at Marina Hill. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.

"BSL-4 labs require more stringent levels of air separation, and must have the ability to quickly shut down and isolate that facility when needed," said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen in Parliament during the debate on his ministry's spending plans for the new financial year.

He said that third-party and overseas experts will be brought in to advise on the entire process - from the design stage to construction, and thereafter to validate the systems periodically.

Dr Ng noted that Singapore has labs at Level 3 - or BSL-3 - which, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, "were assessed as adequate protection".

Currently in South-east Asia, there are no labs with the highest biosafety level of BSL-4. Elsewhere in Asia, however, China, South Korea and Japan have built BSL-4 labs since 2015.

"As an infectious agent, Covid-19 could have been much worse. For example, mumps and measles are four to nine times more infectious. For lethality, Sars and Mers caused many more severe cases and deaths," said Dr Ng, referring to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreaks.

"Can we plan on the basis that future pandemics or biological attacks will not be worse than Covid-19? Or can we outsource to or call another country for help? It would be foolish to depend on others, and we need to build capabilities within Singapore to protect ourselves."