The World Health Organization (WHO) has named Cuba as the largest medical team of any single foreign nation to join combat against the outbreak of Ebola, the worst in the history of the virus.
Cuba sent a team of 165 health professionals from the country arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to join the fight against Ebola on October 2.
Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has hailed it as the “largest offer of a foreign medical team from a single country” since the start of the outbreak.
So far, the deadly Ebola virus has claimed more than 2,600 lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The report was published in France 24 on September 22 and the Washington Post on October 4.
The team, which includes doctors, nurses, epidemiologists and intensive care specialists traveled to Sierra Leone on October 1, part of a total of 461 health workers from Cuba offered several weeks ago to go to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Former President Fidel Castro praised the Cuban doctors and nurses who traveled to Sierra Leone to combat the epidemic of Ebola and invited doctors from countries with more resources to join this effort.
"The delivery of the first medical brigade to Sierra Leone ... is an example of a country which can boast" said Castro in an article published Saturday in Granma, the official newspaper of Cuba government.
The article titled "Heroes of our time" is features the signature of Cuban leader in a letter.
"May the example of Cuban's march to Africa also be in the hearts and minds of other physicians in the world, especially those with more resources," added the 88-year old former Cuban leader.
"There are enough doctors on the planet so that nobody has to die for lack of care," said the Cuban leader, who rescinded power after becoming seriously ill in 2006.
Moreover, Cuban officials in the health sector stated that Cuban health workers are in 66 countries as part of a comprehensive program developed by Cuba to send medical and paramedical staff to poor countries and disaster or epidemic areas.
According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak of Ebola, the worst in the history of the virus, has sickened more than 7,000 people and caused about 3,300 deaths.