Geneva, May 22 (RHC) –- Haitian Health Minister Florence Duperval Guillaume thanked Cuba on Wednesday for its medical cooperation with Haiti and the training program for medical students from that neighboring Caribbean nation.

"This is an unconditional, fraternal assistance, a true example of solidarity," the minister told Prensa Latina in Geneva, where she participated in the World Health Assembly, chaired this year by Cuba.

Dr. Duperval Guillaume praised the support provided by Cuba in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, as well as their assistance in confronting a cholera epidemic and other diseases.

The first group of Cuban physicians arrived in Port-au-Prince on December 4, 1998, as part of an emergency disaster-relief brigade after hurricanes George and Mitch passed through the Caribbean, said Nestor Marimon, of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) of Cuba.

The director of the International Relations department at MINSAP stated that after the January 12, 2010 earthquake, 367 Cuban collaborators were already working in that nation, a figure that later increased to 1,546.

Cuba is presiding over the 67th World Health Assembly this week, a recognition of its health achievements and its health-related support for many countries throughout the world.