With friends like Jammeh, war on HIV needs no enemies

By James Wodera

Gambia President Yahya Jammeh has effortlessly managed to shoot himself into the dubious distinction of rapacious despots that dot many nations of Africa.

What with his sustained and dramatic, yet ridiculous claim that he can treat HIV/Aids using herbal concoctions in less than three days!

When he first made these claims three years ago, the world was perturbed. Although, the temptation of ignoring Yahya was very high, it was difficult to ignore a sitting head of State, even when he makes rather awkward claims especially on a subject such as HIV/Aids.

But Jammeh, president of one of Africa’s smallest nations with a population of less than two million people was determined to push on his agenda with a dramatic announcement in January 2007: "I can treat asthma and HIV/Aids and the cure is a day’s treatment.

Within three days the person should be tested again and I can tell you that he/she will be negative... The mandate I have is that HIV/Aids cases can be treated on Thursdays. That is the good, and the bad news is,that I cannot treat more than 10 patients every Thursday".

Three weeks later the president’s office released results of viral load tests conducted on the first batch of patients. An official statement said:

"The herbal medicine and therapy administered by President Jammeh have yielded results beyond all reasonable doubts, that they are effective and can cure Aids."

However, on closer inspection by scientists including World Health Organisation and academicians from the neighbouring University of Dakar, Senegal, the President’s findings were far from convincing.

Not only had he false samples of human blood for testing, but the President was accused of manipulating the system he heads, among it, his Health Minister Dr Tamsir Mbow, to support what was obviously useless concoctions. The president and his unconventional therapies were collectively ignored and trashed as "baseless".

The following year, President Jammeh was back in the news again ranting about homosexuality, warning those caught practicing it that he would cut off their heads besides promising to enact tougher laws against "sinful and immoral behaviour".

Less than a fortnight ago, the self-proclaimed "professor of Science in traditional healing", who incidentally, had shifted his ‘healings’ from Wednesdays and Thursday’s was at it again.

King of Gambia

This time by his press team had him "making rounds" on some Aids patients he has cured.

He also took the opportunity to announce that he would not be presenting himself as presidential candidate come the next general election in 2012. I understand he is now being proposed to be enthroned as King of Gambia!

While, he is entitled to his claims and belief in traditional healing and concoctions, my heart goes out to the people of this Gambia, especially the HIV survivors being used as pawns in President Jammeh’s machinations to remain relevant in his country and globally.

Reputable medical research institutions and eminent medical experts have presented scientific evidence showing that there is still no known cure for Aids or HIV infection.

Although antiretrovirals are doing a wonderful job suppressing HIV and are even delaying illness for many years, they do not clear the virus completely. Neither is there a single confirmed case of a person getting rid of HIV from his system.

Unfortunately, even with this evidence, countless quacks, con artists and now even political leaders such as President Jammeh are touting unproven and often very dangerous "Aids cures" to desperate people.

It is easy to see why an HIV positive person might want to believe in an Aids cure. According to the International HIV and Aids (AVERT) charity, "access to antiretroviral treatment is scarce in much of the world", and "when someone has a life-threatening illness, they may clutch at anything to stay alive".

This view is supported by Dr Samuel Kamadi, a researcher at Kenya Medical Research Institute, "even when ARV treatment is available, it is far from an easy solution. Drugs must be taken every day for the rest of a person’s life, often causing unpleasant side effects".

It is then easy to see why a one-off cure that seeks to eradicate the virus once and for all becomes more appealing. AVERT further points to the often unfounded distrust of Western medicine coupled with rumours on the Internet and other social media on pharmaceutical industry suppressing cures to protect the market for patented drugs.

But with friends like President Jammeh around, Aids campaigners surely need no enemies. At barely 45 years of age, Jammeh falls into that category of despots whose leadership has greatly undermined the rapid development of the continent. History remembers them, not only as dictators but their respective tenures as a very unfortunate tragic occurrence. They inflict untold misery on those they swear to protect and serve.

bitter with the world

Like President Jammeh, such leaders come from humble beginnings to take power through unconstitutional means and package themselves as "saviours" that would cure their people of disease, runaway poverty and social ills.

They appear bitter with the world, and in an attempt to make up for their low self-esteem, they eventually end up being involved in political murders, cannibalism, grand theft and corruption.

Whether President Jammeh falls into this description is a matter of conjecture. What is clear is that his belief on HIV/Aids is not doing him, and by extension his nation, any good. The damage he is ing is very high.

True, Gambia may not be of any strategic importance to the West, but must the world and WHO stand by and tolerate President Jammeh as Gambians slowly but surely sink into an uncertain deep sea?

The writer is an MA in Communication Studies student at University of Nairobi.

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