Havana, April 13 (RHC)--A group of 159 Cuban health professionals arrived in Gabon to join the Henry Reeve brigade that provides services in the African country, the Foreign Ministry of the Caribbean nation said Monday.

Gabon's Minister of Health, Guy Patrick Nguema Ndong, welcomed the contingent that will extend its work to the nine provinces of the Gabonese territory.

This is the largest group of Cuban collaborators to arrive in the African country since the health sector's first cooperation agreement was signed in 2004.

Their work aims to contribute to broader medical care and strengthening, together with Gabonese professionals, the level of health and life expectancy of the population as a whole.

Cuba and Gabon established relations on March 26, 1974.

Since then, they have been developing positive bilateral ties and have noted the existence of great potentialities to be exploited for mutual benefit, Cubaminrex points out.

Among the most relevant exchange events, two visits to Cuba by President Ali Bongo Ondimba in September 2012 and July 2017 stand out.