The Pharmacist Turned Health Guru Who Wants To Expose The Truth about Health
By Features Desk
Saturday, February 10, 2018.
Funke
E. Adeniji (main picture) is a woman on a mission to change the perception of healthy living
within the African Caribbean Community. It is this mission that has led her to
write her first book ‘The Truth About Health Exposed’ in
which she hopes to inspire and empower people from all walks of life to tackle
health challenges on a daily basis. Through her lifelong career as a
pharmacist she has gathered a wealth of knowledge and experience in helping
people achieve health related goals.
After encounters with some religious
patients who refused to take medications because they had not accepted their
diagnoses or felt that faith alone was adequate for healing, Funke was
motivated to write something which would support them without undermining their
faith. Quite often those encounters were with patients from the
African and African Caribbean community, who are also considered to be at high
risk of several chronic diseases. Funke points out that her own beliefs are at
contrast with those of several health policies.
“Fundamentally it is not only
ethnicity that is the core problem, rather it is a lack of awareness of the
impact of many of their behaviours that is the problem,” Funke says.
Funke has held important positions
within the NHS and she is a specialist in HIV AIDS and infectious diseases,
with an MSc in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine. This background has given her a wide overview of public
health and wellbeing. She also believes that those in the African and African-Caribbean
community - often considered at higher risk of developing certain chronic
diseases - need to take ownership of their own health
behaviours. Aside from her own personal experiences and knowledge,
she interviewed experts such as psychologists, researchers, policy makers and
more for her book.

‘The Truth About Health Exposed’ is a
holistic guide which covers the basics of health including physical, mental and
social wellbeing as well as topical issues such as hygiene, supplements and
food. The book also covers sexual health; the influence of culture and religion
on individual health behaviour; how to invest in your health in the context of
a struggling NHS as well as principles to help guide health behaviours. Funke
also hosts a podcast called ‘The Ma Titia Podcast’ under the name
of “Ma Titia” (which means teacher in the dialect of The Efik ethnic group of
Nigeria) in which she addresses many of the issues that are outlined in the
book as well as trending topics in the health sector.
A keen sports enthusiast and qualified
basketball coach, Funke won national championships as a player and is well
aware of what it takes to be a winner and overcome challenges. These attributes
and her knowledge in the health sector led her to establish a Non-Profit
organisation; the Women’s Elite Sports Empowerment Initiative (WESIE),
through which she engages and promotes health and wellbeing within her own
community whilst using sports as a tool of engagement to improve health and
wellbeing of high risk populations in non-western world countries. Proceeds of
the book will also go to her NGO, as she believes that prevention is key in the
rise of long term lifestyle diseases, and sports, she thinks, provides an
informal setting that can inspire and empower participants and
communities.