HAVANA, Sept 16: President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday awarded medals and certificates to the members of a Cuban medical brigade that provided critical support to the survivors in the aftermath of earthquake in October last year.

Cuba’s acting President Fidel Raul Castro also attended the investiture ceremony.

He president awarded Sitara-i-Eissar and Tamgha-i-Eissar to 46 doctors and members of the medical team. He also awarded Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam to the deputy Foreign Minister of Cuba Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

The president expressed his gratitude to the government and people of Cuba, their organisations and institutions for their time, resources and energy for the quake-hit people.

Pakistan and Cuba have only recently established their diplomatic ties. The Cuban team involved 2,558 medical personnel, including 1,430 doctors. It attended to around 1.7 million patients and provided rehabilitation and physical therapy to 166,000 people. Cuba also donated 30 mobile hospitals, 241 tonnes of medicines and 275 tonnes of equipment, and trained 600 Pakistani students. The Cuban government has offered 1,000 medical scholarships to Pakistani students this year.—APP