Havana, September 8 (RHC)-- Medical collaborators from the Cuban brigades currently serving on Caribbean islands are maintaining daily communication with the country and are prepared to confront the aftermath of powerful Hurricane Irma.

Through a telephone conversation with Granma newspaper, the director of the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation, Regla Angulo Pardo, said that measures had been taken to preserve the lives of the 771 health professionals.

She added that Cuba has medical brigades in six of the Caribbean countries affected by the hurricane -- Antigua and Barbuda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; the Bahamas; Dominica and Haiti.

The official said that even when the situation was as complex as Antigua and Barbuda, Cuban specialists were safe and have joined the recovery work.