Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia's Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) will send a medical team to Afghanistan to help handle the humanitarian crisis that hit the country due to the war.

"This has become the focus of attention of MER-C as an emergency medical institution for victims of war, conflict and natural disasters to take part in helping  overcome humanitarian crises," Chairman of the MER-C Presidium Sarbini Abdul Murad said in Jakarta on Friday (March 18).

Sarbini said that his party continues to coordinate with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Afghan Embassy in Jakarta to process permits so that they can immediately send a medical team and other assistance.

At the initial stage, the assessment team consisted of two volunteer doctors, namely Arief Rachman and Muhammad Reza Saputra. Based on the plan, the team is scheduled to leave for the capital city of Kabul on March 20, 2022.

"A number of initial aids of medicines based on the list of drug needs that we received from the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul will be brought by a MER-C team," he said.

Sarbini explained that the main task of the initial team was to ascertain the needs of the Afghan people, especially in the medical field, and to map the types of diseases, the need for medical personnel and medicines as well as other humanitarian assistance.

The team will also coordinate with the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul. The team will visit a number of health facilities, both Indonesian hospitals and clinics there.

The initial team assignment period was expected for one week. The results of the assessment will form the basis for the further dispatch of a medical team whose specialization will be tailored to the needs on the ground, as well as the establishment of the MER-C long-term humanitarian program for Afghanistan.

This humanitarian visit to Afghanistan is not the first for MER-C. In 2001 and 2002 when the country which is located between Central Asia and South Asia was hit by war, MER-C sent a surgical team and performed operations on war victims.

"Twenty years have passed, now MER-C will come to Afghanistan again to fulfill the call of humanity there," said Sarbini.

Reporting by Indonesia Window