Havana, October 24 (RHC) -- The governments of Liberia and Guinea thanked the medical help provided by Cuba to the ongoing Ebola pandemic in their countries.

We hope the Cuban specialists not only participate in the fight against this dangerous disease, but also in strengthening the local healthcare sector, said Liberian Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe.

Meanwhile, Deputy Health Minister Matthew Flomo said the Cuban medical brigade, composed of epidemiologists, general practitioners, surgeons, pediatricians, nurses, anesthetists and intensive care specialists, will soon be deployed at the special medical facilities for the treatment of Ebola.

In Conakry, Guinea, doctors were welcomed by Foreign Minister Lounsény Fall; Health Minister Rémy Lamah, and the Minister of International Cooperation, Koutoubou Moustapha, who expressed appreciation for Havana's valuable collaboration.

Koutoubou emphasized that relations between his country and Cuba go back to the struggle for Guinean independence and reaffirmed the commitment of the African nation to work tirelessly for the strengthening of friendship and cooperation links between the two countries.

With the new deployment, the number of Cuban doctors who traveled to West Africa to fight Ebola now amounts to 256. The first brigade of 165 medical workers are already working in Sierra Leone, the other West African country most affected by the deadly hemorrhagic fever.