More than 120 Cuban doctors arrived in the Algerian capital to work in some the country's poorest areas, Algeria's health minister announced.

The 126 doctors were to be deployed to the High Plateau areas north of the Algerian Sahara. They are part of an Algerian-Cuban cooperation program aimed at providing medical services to areas in Algeria where doctors are reluctant to work.

Cuba announced in December 2006 that it planned to build and manage seven high-tech ophthalmologic centres in the High Plateau area and in the Algerian Sahara.

The island has frequently deployed doctors to a range of countries as part of similar agreements.

Source: Caribbean Net News