Dr.C. Pablo Resik Habib, a Public Health Personality, Passes Away in Havana

December 28, 2023

In the early morning hours of December 27, 2023, Dr.C. Pablo Resik Habib passed away in Havana. This is a great loss, not only for medicine, epidemiology, public health, teaching and research, but especially for his example of vocation, sensitivity to others' suffering, dedication, altruism and solidarity.

Son of Lebanese parents, he was born in Santa Clara, in the former province of Las Villas, on November 21, 1930. He graduated as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Havana on February 8, 1956, and held the position of anesthesiologist at the Clinical Institute of Havana and at the Hospital of the League Against Blindness.

Following the revolutionary triumph in 1959, he integrated into the process of structuring and organizing Cuban public health, holding various leadership positions:

Interventor of the anti-tuberculosis preventoriums Martí and Grancher (1959)
Founder and sub-director of William Soler Pediatric Hospital (1960-1961)
Director of Frank País Hospital (1961-1962)
Sub-director of Medical Assistance of the former province of Havana (1962-1963)
One of the Chiefs of the First Permanent Medical Collaboration Mission (Algeria 1963-1964)
Chief of the Department of Epidemiology of the then School of Public Health (1965-1968)
Director of Las Ánimas Anti-infectious Hospital (1968-1969)
Director of the National Institute of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology (1968-1975)
National Director of Nutrition (1975-1977)
Director of Biomedicine of the State Committee for Science and Technology (1977-1980)
Director of Biomedicine of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba (1980-1992)

Full-time Professor at the National School of Public Health, ENSAP (From 1992 until his passing), holding the position of Consulting Professor.

The successful performance of all these administrative responsibilities did not prevent him from continuing his professional development, completing twelve national and three international courses, obtaining the title of Specialist of second degree in Epidemiology in 1972; the category of Senior Researcher in 1982; Full Professor in 1985 and Doctor in Medical Sciences that same year.

From an early age he assumed the social responsibility of training new physicians and also new specialists in Public Health, beginning his teaching activity as an undergraduate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine "General Calixto García" and at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Havana (1965-1968).

Starting in 1968, he joined the faculty of the School of Public Health, combining this activity with teaching Master's programs at the Pedro Kourí Institute and at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. He participated in Master's programs taught at ENSAP and in twelve national and international courses, and was the sole instructor in four national courses on "Causality in Epidemiology."

He was a member of several examining committees for final examinations in Residencies, Master's degrees, Teaching Category and Scientific Degree in Health Sciences, which he chaired on repeated occasions.

Throughout his life he shared his knowledge through publications in journals, monographs, and books as author or co-author, among which stands out the book "Causality in Epidemiology," published in 2003 by Scientific-Technical Publishing, which in 2005 received the Scientific-Technical Criticism Award.

For his indisputable merits he received numerous distinctions and recognitions. Among the most notable are the category of Consulting Professor, granted in 1997; that of Merit Researcher in 2003; the Medal for the Centennial of the founding of the Ministry of Public Health in 2009; Merit Professor in 2015; and Honorary Member of the Cuban Society of the History of Medicine in 2016.

Pablo Resik is the father of two prestigious Cuban women: Magda Resik, who is Director of Communication for the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana and of the radio station Havana Radio. Host and scriptwriter of television and radio programs. Winner of the José Antonio Fernández de Castro Cultural Journalism Award for a lifetime of work in the press in Cuba. Licensed in Journalism from the University of Havana, and Sonia Resik, head of the Department of Virology of the Institute of Tropical Medicine Pedro Kourí (IPK).