Havana city, Cuba.- President Miguel Diaz-Canel praised the successful work of the Cuban medical brigade that returned home on Monday after fighting Covid-19 in Peru for over six months.

Via a videoconference, due to the sanitary measures, the president welcomed the 84 healthcare professionals from the Henry Reeve Contingent, and said that he felt immense satisfaction for the results of the mission entrusted to them in the face of the emergency in that sister nation.

Diaz-Canel highlighted the historic coincidence that the specialists returned to Peruvian lands 50 years after the 1970 earthquake, when Cuban medical assistance was also sent, and all Cubans promoted a campaign of voluntary blood donations, including that of the historic leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro.

The head of State expressed interest in meeting with the brigade after the quarantine period, to share the experiences they had lived, ‘which will surely contribute to the improvement of our fight against Covid-19,’ he added.

The 35 nursing graduates and 49 physicians, specialists in Integral General Medicine, Epidemiology, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Pneumology and Intensive Care, were welcomed at Terminal 5 of the Jose Marti International Airport, in Havana, by Deputy Minister of Public Health Regla Angulo.

During their stay in Peru, they carried out several functions in the departments of Ancash, Arequipa, Moquegua and Ayacucho, where they were worked in institutions of the Peruvian Ministry of Health.

There, they established a favorable working dynamics with their local colleagues in both the primary care services and the six hospitals where they worked in the red zone and in the care of critically ill patients.

The Cubans received recognition from the Peruvian people for their performance in house-to-house visits to detect suspected cases, the diagnosis of Covid-19 cases, the follow-up of people who tested positive and remained at home, and for the medical interventions and campaigns carried out in towns in urban and rural areas.