Under his instructions, the first Cuban medical group arrived in Haiti on December 4, 1998, to support the local population in the aftermath of Hurricane George.

For 25 years, the Medical Brigade has provided uninterrupted services to Haitians, despite extreme weather events, earthquakes and the chaos caused by the ferocity of armed gangs, a genuine by-product of poverty.

This anniversary has a historical, as statistics endorse the affection and gratitude Haitians have develop towards the 14,308 Cuban collaborators that have tried to heal their pains since 1998.

The Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti are responsible for 36,167,339 consultations, 200,827 births, 22,582 cesarean sections, 725,093 surgical interventions, 249,318 of which were of the major type, and for the rehabilitation of 210,100 patients subject to physical therapy.

Operation Miracle, which sought to improve the vision of Haitians, had 73,404 patients operated on by Cuban ophthalmologists. As for laboratory tests, Cubans performed 1,270,416 tests, 39,034 x-rays, 745,651 ultrasounds, 114,996 endoscopies, 115,309 electrocardiograms and saved a total of 77,391 lives.

In addition, the Brigade helped training 565 graduate specialists in Comprehensive General Medicine, as part of the plan to develop human resources.

For the past quarter of a century, Haitians have come to highly appreciate the work by Cuban health workers. Not in vain many of them often prefer to be treated by Cuban doctors instead of their own compatriots.

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