The government of Ecuador on Tuesday expressed its gratitude to Cuba for providing medical assistance to its disabled.

Accompanied by 120 Ecuadorian doctors, 232 Cuban doctors have so far visited 369,000 homes in eight of Ecuador's 24 provinces to treat and assist some 80,000 disabled people, a statement released by the Ecuadorian Vice President's office said.

The joint Ecuador-Cuba medical mission, launched in July under the name of Manuela Espejo Solidarity Mission, also compiled statistics which will be used for later medical missions.

The first phase of the mission found that 78,000 disabled people need medical assistance.

The second phase is scheduled to start next January to cover the remaining 16 provinces of the country.

The entire mission is expected to cost US$35 million.

The governments of the two countries also delivered housing and small business loans to rural areas during the mission.

While the Ecuadorian medical authorities provided prostheses, hearing aids and wheelchairs during the mission, the Cuban doctors found that Down's Syndrome, high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma are the top non-transmissible diseases in the country, where pesticides and such chemicals as glyphosphate and organophosphate are causing some congenital diseases.

During his trip to Cuba in October, Ecuadorian Vice President Lenin Moreno Garces described Cuban doctors as playing "a decisive role in diagnosing the causes of the disabled people" in Ecuador.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2009)