Havana, March 31 (RHC-ACN)-- Cuba has sent a 23-strong Cuban medical contingent, members of the Henry Reeve International Brigade of Doctors Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics, to Peru to assist people affected by heavy rains and floods over the past several weeks, associated with the El Niño whether phenomenon.

Cuban Health Minister Roberto Ojeda saw off the health professionals Thursday night at Havana's International Airport.

The group, made up of doctors, nurses and other health professionals, carries with them 4.2 tons of medicines and medical supplies, along with 6 million chloride tablets to make water drinkable in the affected Peruvian areas. Their main task will be to prevent the spread of epidemics.

Since the beginning of 2017, heavy rains in Peru have caused the death of 97 people, destroyed over 180,000 houses, and affected some 125,000 persons.

Cuban President Raul Castro sent a message of condolences to his Peruvian counterpart Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. This is not the first time Cuba rushes to assist the Andean nation in case of natural disasters. Medical contingents traveled to Peru in the wake of mass earthquakes in 1970, and then again in 2007.

Founded by revolutionary leader, the late Fidel Castro in 2005, the Henry Reeve medical brigade has fulfilled internationalist missions in over 20 countries.