A doctor who goes beyond medicine

When it comes to selfless and committed professions in life, we certainly think of the work of men and women in the health sector whose daily effort preserves the physical and mental integrity of their patients.

Many make up the list of medical personalities in the province of Matanzas who boast vast experience and commendable accomplishments. Some of them even are not even from this region but remain committed to it, as is the case of Roberto Cañete Villafranca.

A native of the province of Pinar del Río, Cañete Villafranca graduated in 1997 from the University of Medical Sciences and became a Master of Parasitology. He also holds a degree of First and Second Grade Specialist in Microbiology at the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine in Havana.

He came to the province of Matanzas in March 2006 and started to work in the Provincial Center of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology, where, among other functions, he is in charge of laboratory tests related to parasitological diagnosis and of related training courses in the region.

Since day one, the onset of COVID-19 in Matanzas made his expertise necessary. He engaged in scientific preparedness programs and gave advice to the authorities on the best ways to deal with the pandemic. He is also in charge of the provincial health interventions based on the administration of Nasalferon and Biomodulin T to senior citizens.

His responsibilities do not keep him from teaching here and in Havana, since he is also a member of the academic committee of the doctoral and master courses at the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine.

With more than 80 publications in academic journals and books under his belt, the doctor says that medicine transcends the act of treating an ailment and that being a doctor involves accompanying patients in their lives, listening to them, offering assurances and giving hope, all of which forces him to carry out research to find new answers to their problems.

Despite his dedication and devotion as a physician, Cañete Villafranca argues that if he had the opportunity to study again, he might choose to be a lawyer, a news commentator, an international relations expert, or a pianist, but in any case he would always keep researching, as he identifies himself as a doctor who goes beyond medicine.