Cuba to send 1000 doctors to Ecuador

The first batch of 1,000 Cuban doctors are set to arrive in Ecuador in December, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. The doctors will provide help in epidemic and physical therapy and "will contribute to strengthening the capability of Ecuador's Health Ministry in these areas," the ministry said in a statement. The arrangement is in line with a series of bilateral agreements signed during Cuban Health Minister Roberto Morales' visit to Ecuador, the ministry added. Cuba has long provided free medical assistance to poorer nations such as Haiti, and charges for medical services and personnel in countries such as Venezuela, which can afford them. Under collaboration agreements since 1961, some 40,000 Cuban doctors and paramedics currently work in 69 countries. Another 4,000 doctors are expected to be stationed throughout Brazil. Cuba's medical service exports are the country's leading source of foreign revenue, bringing in more than 6 billion dollars a year.