At the start of Togo’s coronavirus outbreak, the small West African nation welcomed a team of 12 Cuban healthcare workers to tend to sufferers of the virus, boost its laboratory testing and help improve its hospital protocols.

While the virus was overwhelming healthcare systems worldwide, the Communist-run Caribbean island boasted a rare resource: a surplus of doctors trained in deploying abroad and battling infectious disease. And it was willing to dispatch them all over the globe to nations requesting help.

Nearly 40 countries across five continents have received Cuban medics during the pandemic, as the island nation — home to just over 11 million inhabitants — has once more punched far above its weight in medical diplomacy.

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