From: Anthony Loum  <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Gambian leader's herbal AIDS 'cure'  raises alarms

The story is contained in the following link:
_http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/304497_gambiaaids21.html_ 
(http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/304497_gambiaaids21.html) 
Thanks
Anthony  Webster Loum

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Gambian leader's herbal AIDS  'cure' raises alarms
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANJUL,  Gambia -- From the pockets of his billowing white robe, Gambia's 
president pulls  out a plastic container, closes his eyes in prayer and rubs a 
green herbal paste  onto the rib cage of the patient -- a concoction he claims 
is a cure for AIDS.  He then tells the man to swallow a bitter yellow drink, 
followed by two  bananas.
"Whatever you do, there are bound to be skeptics, but I can tell you  my 
method is foolproof," President Yahya Jammeh told a reporter. "Mine is not an  
argument, mine is a proof. It's a declaration. I can cure AIDS and I  will."
In a continent suffering from the world's worst AIDS epidemic,  Jammeh's 
claims of a miracle cure are alarming public health workers already  struggling 
against faith-healers dispensing herbal remedies.
The biggest  concern is that the Gambian leader requires patients to cease 
their  anti-retroviral drugs, which risks making them even more prone to 
infection,  said Dr. Antonio Filipe Jr., head of the World Health Organization in  
Senegal.
Since January, when he announced his cure to a gathering of foreign  
diplomats, Jammeh has thrown the bureaucratic machinery of this small West  African 
country behind the claim. The last six news releases on Gambia's  official Web 
site are dedicated to the president's treatment, available to  Gambians free of 
charge. Regular radio and TV addresses publicize it and the  Health Ministry 
has issued a declaration of support.
Although the HIV rate is  relatively low in Gambia compared with other 
African nations, the president's  claim has left international health organizations 
in a bind. Filipe was  diplomatic, saying WHO respects the president's point 
of view. But, he added:  "As the World Health Organization, we would like to 
state quite clearly the  following -- No. 1: so far there is no cure for AIDS."
Jammeh, 41, says his  treatment cannot be mixed with other drugs because "I 
don't want any  complications."
Jammeh has sent blood samples of the first nine patients to a  lab in Senegal 
for testing. A letter on the lab's stationery indicates of the  nine, four 
had undetectable viral loads, one had a moderate load and three had  high loads, 
a result posted on the government's Web site as proof of a  cure.
However, the lab technician who performed the tests warned they are not  
conclusive since the blood samples were only taken after the  treatment.
Waiting for treatment at the presidential compound last week,  Jammeh's 
patients said they don't need lab results to tell them they feel  better.
"It feels as if the president took the pain out of my body," said  Ousman 
Sowe, 54, who has been under Jammeh's care for nearly a month.  

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