Obituary: Dr. Frederick Morfaw was a leader in bettering women’s health in Africa

People on two continents gathered to say farewell to Dr. Frederick Morfaw, who is being remembered by McMaster University as a compassionate public health champion."

Morfaw - who died of a blood clot on June 15 at St. Joseph's hospital at the age of 40 - was a leader and tireless advocate for increasing programs to decrease mother-to-child transmission of HIV in his native Cameroon and around the world.

He researched the effectiveness of drugs, especially misoprostol, in the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular.

Morfaw came to Hamilton in 2017 to get a degree in health research methodology at McMaster University and joined the department of health research methods, evidence and impact (HEI).

A vigil was held on Zoom on June 24 featuring colleagues from McMaster and friends in Cameroon, such as Dr. Arnelle Foutko from the Order of Cameroon doctors and two Cameroon judges - Morfaw's father-in-law, retired Justice Njuzy Charles, and Morfaw's older brother, Magistrate Joseph Morfaw.

Morfaw's June 25 funeral at Canadian Martyrs Church in west Hamilton was livestreamed on YouTube and a funeral prayer and program in Limbe Isokolo, Cameroon, was broadcast on Zoom on June 27. It featured testimony from friends and family members.

His death shocked family and friends, and has been extremely hard on his wife Laura. They were looking forward to setting up a new life in Canada with their three children. She was a state prosecutor and a magistrate in training in Cameroon and had sent her credentials off to the law society ruling body in Ottawa to see what she needed to do to become a lawyer in Ontario.

I'm still sad for what happened to Frederick," Laura told The Spectator. It's like our whole life changed in one minute. We had objectives. We had goals."

In a statement from the HEI department, Dr. Lawrence Mbuagbaw, a friend of Morfaw's and an HEI assistant professor, said, Frederick, who was known as Papi, brought joy and laughter with him wherever he went."

He was one of my oldest friends and I will miss him dearly. He is leaving a huge gap in the heart of his friends, family and colleagues and the academic world."

In the same statement, Daeria Lawson, a PhD student in the health research methodology program, said Morfaw's death will be felt deeply throughout the student community.

He had a very special way of connecting with people and bringing joy to those around him with his presence," said Lawson.

Morfaw was born Jan. 15, 1980, to Henry and Stella Morfaw in Victoria, now called Limbe, a city of about 100,000 on the Atlantic Coast in southwest Cameroon. He was born into a prominent family that had members in the legal and medical profession. His father was a justice on the Supreme Court of Cameroon and his mother was a teacher.

He attended high school in Bamenda, a city of two million in northwest Cameroon.

He went into medicine and trained as a doctor in the Faculty of Medical and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Yaounde 1, in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde, from 1998-2005.

He completed a Master in Public Health Research at the University of Edinburgh in 2008 and a public administration course from Florida International University in 2015.

Before he came to Hamilton, he worked as a consulting gynecologist for more than three years at the Bamenda Regional Hospital.

His wife said her husband went into medicine because of the issue of maternal deaths in Africa.

He was just passionate about maternal health," she said.

Laura described her husband as a very strong-willed and determined individual.

He was very humble," she said. He was a very loving husband. There are just so many things to say about him. We miss him very much. We loved him so much."

At McMaster, Morfaw completed a research fellowship in prenatal clinical epidemiology in the university's department of obstetrics and gynecology. He was also a member of the African Caribbean Graduate Students' Association.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help his family. Called In Memory of Frederick Morfaw," it had raised more than $50,000 from more than 300 donors as of Aug. 12.

Laura said the family has been touched by the efforts of her husband's colleagues to help her and her children.

They have helped in every possible way," she said.

Morfaw is survived by his wife Laura, children Vanessa, Prince Henry and Ricka. He is also survived by his mother Stella, brother Joseph and sisters Arabella and Fanny. He was predeceased by his father Henry, who died in 2017.

Reach The Spectator newsroom at 905-526-3420 or news@thespec.com