Cuban medical cooperation

International solidarity and collaboration has been one of the most important principles of the Cuban revolution since its very beginning, inspired in the humanitarian purpose of saving lives.
Chile's earthquake in May, 1960, was the first Cuban experience of international medical collaboration, though the start of Cuban foreign collaboration was officially marked in 1963 when a group of Cuban doctors were sent to Algeria.
Cuban medical brigades offer humanitarian security to people in far-off places such as the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Guatemala, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nicaragua and Bolivia.
One of the major steps made by the Cuban Revolution in its humanitarian collaboration has been the creation in September, 2005, of the Henry Reeves International Medical Contingent for Disasters and Serious Epidemics.
The contingent was formed to help the victims of hurricane Katrina after it passed through the US. Even though, the American government rejected the Cuban help, the Cuban doctors have been able to provide their services after the earthquakes in Pakistan and Indonesia and the heavy rains that recently affected Guatemala and Bolivia.
For more than four decades, close to 133,000 Cuban health experts have collaborated with a hundred nations, marking a record in foreign medical cooperation.
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