MER-C to Send Medical Team to Afghanistan

Jakarta, MINA – The humanitarian agency Medical Emergency Rescue – Committee (MER-C) will immediately send a surgical team to Afghanistan after the country was rocked by a powerful earthquake.

“The earthquake in Afghanistan with a magnitude of 6.1 caused the death toll to reach more than 1,000 people, and around 2,000 people were injured. Therefore, MER-C sees the need to send a surgical team to Afghanistan,” said the Chair of the MER-C Presidium, dr. Sarbini Abdul Murad in a press conference held at the MER-C Building in Jakarta on Friday (June 24).

“The surgical team sent will consist of 4 to 5 people consisting of orthopedic specialists, anesthesiologists, general practitioners, and nurses,” he added.

He added that conditions in Afghanistan were exacerbated by the freezing of a number of Afghan assets by foreigners. So, according to him, the surgical team sent by MER-C aims to reduce the risk of the acute phase which usually occurs in the first two weeks after the disaster.

“God willing, the MER-C surgical team will depart next week. We try to leave quickly, and we will coordinate this departure with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Afghanistan,” said Sarbini.

He also hoped that the Indonesian government would immediately take humanitarian steps as it had done when the big earthquake in Bam, Iran in 2004 occurred. At that time, the Indonesian government sent the assistance of a joint health team, in which two MER-C doctors participated.

“We hope that the Indonesian government will immediately take humanitarian steps as it did when the big earthquake occurred in Bam, Iran in 2004,” said Sarbini.

“At that time, the Indonesian government sent assistance to a joint health team commanded by the TNI, in which two MER-C doctors served on the team,” he continued. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)