NOVEMBER PRIME PARAGON: PHARM MORENIKE FAJEMISIN
Pharm. Morenike Fajemisin is not only an enterprising woman but a young pharmacist of distinction. She is innovatively passionate about transforming Sexual and Reproductive Health and its perception amongst caregivers and the populace within Nigeria and beyond.
She is our Prime Paragon for November; read through this interview to discover how she is impacting healthcare in Nigeria, advocating for non-discrimination of sexually active youths and challenging young pharmacists to stand out.
Enjoy…
INTERVIEW
YPG: Please let our YPs know you and what you do?
MF: My name is Morenike Fajemisin, I am a multi-award-winning pharmacist and the CEO & Co-Founder of WHISPA mobile app. I am very passionate about improving women’s health and rights. My vision is to provide a reliable, safe, private space for young people (especially women) to be linked to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) information, products and services. This vision is what led to the birth of WHISPA, a mobile application that allows young people to conveniently achieve this goal.
YPG: You’ve spent most of your career in sales, marketing and regulatory spheres of the pharmaceutical industry, Is that correct? Are there any other unknown areas of expertise? What influenced your choice and how rewarding/fulfilling has it been?
MF: Since graduating from pharmacy school in Dec 2010, I initially worked briefly in community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy. My career in Regulatory Affairs and marketing is tightly linked with my career in Maternal, Sexual and Reproductive health. So, if you asked me, I would say I have spent most of my career in Maternal, Sexual and reproductive health, Regulatory Affairs and Marketing.
During a seminar in my last year in pharmacy school, I recall listening to someone who was a regional sales manager in a pharma company. At that time, I said to myself, “Sales ke? I don’t want to be a sales rep oo”. This was what a lot of people in my class were saying, so in hindsight, I was really just echoing the popular opinion. However, I remember thinking that I would like to try it and see.
After pharmacy school, I got into regulatory affairs courtesy my internship at NAFDAC and then found myself back in regulatory work after my NYSC, but this time around as the representative of a company interested in registering pharmaceuticals at NAFDAC. Over time, I moved into sales then marketing for the same company-DKT Nigeria and since their focus is on Maternal, Sexual and Reproductive Health, my roles were intricately linked.
Truth be told, I have found every aspect of my career rewarding and fulfilling. It was tough at first, but I learnt quickly on the job and I learnt to push through any obstacles I faced. If you are able to find ways to solve any problem or challenge that comes your way on the job, then it will make you exceptional on your job and invaluable to your employer. Working in sales will teach you resilience, how not to take the first, second or tenth no, you learn how not to give up because you have a target to meet.
YPG: What was growing up like, family, education, influences and how have they shaped you into the person you are now and your work in providing effective Family Planning (FP) and Reproductive Health (RH) services?
MF: I was raised in a typical Yoruba-Christian home. One experience that shaped my childhood and most of my growing years was when my 18yr old cousin (who was living with us at the time), got pregnant while still in her SS3. I was only 5 years old at the time, but the aftermath of this event meant that I was given the burden, the responsibility to ensure I would not disgrace my family like my cousin ’supposedly’ had. As a result of her pregnancy, my cousin stopped school and never got to go on to university or reach her full potential.
As I grew up and learnt about contraceptives, I remember finding it odd that our society called it family planning, since this implies that preventing pregnancy is only for people who were married and making a family. I also came to realize how difficult it is for young, unmarried sexually active people (women in particular) to get contraceptives without being shamed or insulted for being sexually active. As a result, I have been passionate about changing this status quo and creating a future where young people receive quality sex education and have shame-free access to any sexual health products and services they need, including contraceptives.
YPG: Did these help to shape Whispa Health? How so? What is the story behind WhispaHealth (from the idea to the reality)?
MF: Certainly! My personal experiences and career path have spurred me to create WHISPA mobile app as a solution to keep young women in school and able to achieve their dreams. WHISPA is able to address Sexual and reproductive health challenges of young people now and the future.
YPG: How long have you been working on the Whispa project, what challenge(s) did it face and how did you tackle them?
MF: WHISPA is not a project, it is my business. WHISPA is a mobile application that enables young people to privately and conveniently get sexual and reproductive health information, products and services. We launched our mobile app to the public this year, April 2020 and have since acquired nearly 15,000 users.
That is not to say that 2020 is when the idea for WHISPA was born, or when the app development began. Launching WHISPA to market has actually been 3 years in the making from idea date to launch date. Although, there have been many challenges, technological, financial, team sourcing and even time management, for me, giving up or quitting has never been an option.
YPG: What new doors has Whispa opened?
MF: WHISPA is as I said earlier not merely a project; it is a business albeit with a social focus. As a social enterprise, we intend to grow WHISPA in Nigeria, and in the near future expand to other countries in and outside Africa.
Notably in 2019, WHISPA was selected by World Health Organisation Africa as one of the Top 30 Innovations from Africa. We recently got selected to represent Nigeria at the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub as a delegate and also selected to join CCHub’s Women in Business Program Cohort 2 out of over 250 applicants across Nigeria and Kenya. There have been other recognitions from other organizations in the health sector that validates their faith in what WHISPA has to offer.
YPG: Are there other things you engage in, either as work or philanthropy?
MF: Yes, I used to run a preventive health project called Project Foresight that brought medical check-ups for adults, deworming medicines for children etc. once per quarter to different communities in Lagos. Our last two medical outreach events were at the Cholera outbreak in Otodogbame community Lekki (in partnership with Lagos state government and other NGOs) and another event in partnership with a church in Magodo, to provide medical checkups and donated items to families that moved to Lagos to escape Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen violence.
YPG: Do you have mentors? How did you meet/find them and use their knowledge and/or resources as a boost?
MF: Yes I do. My ‘oga’ at DKT Nigeria - Dimos Sakellaridis, Jenny Liu-an professor of health economics at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) who I met while she was conducting various research in Nigeria and recently ‘Moe’ Maureen Rinkunas whom I met through mutual contacts this year.
YPG: The Nigeria Family Planning (NFP) Blueprint (Scale-Up Plan) was introduced in October 2014. At the time the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) was said to be 15 percent and with proper implementation of the plan, 36 percent was the intended achievable target by 2018. Data from Family planning 2020, shows that Nigeria’s CPR as at 2019 was below 15 percent, what does this mean in relation to the work still to be done and how can pharmacists contribute towards achieving the intended target of the NFP-Blueprint?
MF: Lots of work to be done and pharmacists can be part of the solution and not the problem, by equipping themselves with knowledge on different contraceptive pills and not just being dispensers of ‘emergency contraceptives (EC)’ like postpill or postinor. I find it sad that many pharmacists tend to turn back young people who are asking for EC often, instead of seeing this as a teachable moment to provide the needed EC while also recommending regular (non-emergency) contraceptives like daily pills to these young women.
In addition, condoms should also be positioned where they can be picked easily by the customer without asking the pharmacist to ‘pass me that condom please”. Some pharmacists cite that they place condoms out of customers reach because they are worried it will get stolen. I find this response strange considering soap, toothpaste and many other commonly used and some even more expensive items are on display and easily picked by customers. However, condoms are then hidden away behind the counter as though they are prescription only medicines or controlled drugs.
YPG: There is an inverse relationship between Economic Growth Indicators as shown by Human Development Index (HDI) and Population Growth Rate (PGR). Between 2018 and 2019, Nigeria's PGR was at 2.6% and its HDI at 0.534 positioning us at 158 out of 189 countries compared with developed countries who have their PGR between 1.5 – 0.4 and their HDI between 0.954 and 0.801. These statistics show that Nigeria’s teeming population is a major bottle neck to its progress, as the burden placed on per capita investment and income, education, employment, power, access to water and other social amenities, and the healthcare system is crippling – and an Adolescent Fertility Rate (AFR) of 105 births per 1000 women ages 15-19 makes the outlook grim. How do you think we can tackle these issues?
MF: Nigeria’s population in itself is not our main problem, but our constant inability to cater to the socio-economic welfare of our current population is what makes the population factor a gigantic problem. Come 2050, Nigeria’s population is estimated to cross 400million, considering Nigeria in 2020 has a population of nearly 200million and the socio-economic unrest is gradually rising, our projected condition in 2050 at this current trajectory is not looking good.
If Nigeria is to offer any meaningful solution to our economic problems, such solutions need to be supported by population growth strategies. We need to purposefully and positively slow down the rate at which children are being produced, only to be dumped into our failing system to fend for themselves as either ‘area boys & girls’ in the south or the ‘almajiri’ system in the north. To do this, our government needs to announce, embrace and reward families that adopt a 3-child maximum policy. Doing this will no doubt be a step in the right direction. In addition, contraceptive use and family planning should also be included as part of a sex education course in the last year of secondary school or at the latest in the first year at the university.
YPG: Family planning is a communication sensitive subject; how do you approach engaging affected persons having this in mind? From your experience, what advice do you have for health personnel to promote better FP and RH services?
MF: One of the reasons why our mobile app is called WHISPA is that it seeks to address and improve the way young people ask for sexual health products like condoms and contraceptives at a pharmacy. They do their best to make sure, nobody can hear what they are asking for. They try to WHISPA to the pharmacist.
This is often because they expect to be treated badly by the pharmacist for ‘having sex’ or be grilled ruthlessly about their sex life. While this is not always what happens and may just be their imagination, sadly, it is true often enough that many young people will bury their questions in silence than ask for help at a pharmacy or even in the clinics & hospitals.
Our approach at WHISPA is to offer youth-friendly, non-judgmental, stigma-free sex education, counselling with medical doctors and referral to our partner hospitals for a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services.
YPG: Life after school can be a huge challenge for numerous reasons, each having their own level of pressure; how would you guide any YP to make good career choices?
MF: Pharmacy has different fields, so do not be afraid to explore different options. I would say do it quickly, within the first two/three years post-graduation and do your best to find your niche or strengths. Sometimes, you may not find the job opportunity you really want, well don’t be afraid to create a version of this opportunity for yourself.
YPG: If you could have a tête-à-tête with one person you admire, who would that be and what would you discuss?
MF: Bill Gates and Melinda Gates. Like them, I want to use any wealth I have to make the world a better place and I wish to live simply, without amassing flashy items to show the world I have ‘arrived’.
I truly admire them not only individually for their respective impact in technology and charitable causes but also as a couple for showing me that ‘Power couples’ can be an effective team in business and in the home.
Thank you for honoring our call.
