The South African Government has called for international assistance in dealing with the crisis, since, according to official data, South Africa is one of the countries most affected by the epidemic. In the country there are more than 4,361 infections and 86 deaths. Cuba has chosen to send Brigade Henry Reeve to Cuba, which has requested the delivery of material.

The brigade has experts from 85 doctors, 20 nurses and 111 specialists from other areas – epidemiologists, biostatesmen, health technology engineers...

The Brigade was created in 2005 to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Although the United States did not accept its help, it has traveled to other countries before traveling to South Africa, where it was in the Ebola epidemic, and where it received a World Health Organization award in 2017.

With the coronavirus crisis, Cuba has sent aid to other countries, including Italy, where there are about 1,500 specialists in 21 states. But before the crisis, the missions of their doctors were already famous, with the help of 400,000 Cuban specialists in 164 states.