Gainako Newspaper

PRESIDENT JAMMEH NEVER SEIZES TO AMAZE THE WORLD;
...AS HE BASHES THE HOPES OF THOUSANDS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN THE GAMBIA
....By Demba Baldeh, Editor & Political Commentator, Seattle WA.......Posted March 7th, 2007

In today's editorial, Gainako's Editor, Demba Baldeh slaps Gambia's Current President,
Yaya Jammeh, right on his face. HIV/Aids, the world's deadliest disease is a living incurable
cankerworm. Such is attested by the much scientific evidence provided by many research institutions.
Therefore, it truly proves insanity for any coming from the 'blues' to pronounce himself an Aids doctor.
Below we reproduce the whole editorial

The President of the West African State of The Gambia Yahya Jammeh has once again shocked the entire world, this time
not his claim of finding mineral oil reserves in the Gambia; not his threat of burying citizens of the Gambia six feet deep, nor
is it a promise to turn Gambia into an economic heaven, but his shocking day break announcement to have found a cure for
the deadly HIV/AIDS disease.

The President, after revealing his spiritual discovery at a meeting of diplomats, Medical personnel, other interest groups and
staff of the Ministry of Health, informed the audience that his treatment is a combination of words from the Holy Qur'an and
Herbal Roots. Without wasting anytime or waiting for reaction from the scientific or diplomatic community, the President
went straight ahead and set a date for receiving his first badge of HIV patients to begin his experimental treatment.

This earnest commencement of treatment on patients supposedly with HIV/AIDS by Jammeh, sent electrical shock waves
across the globe especially to the scientific world and the medical community, who have been working for years without
finding yet a cure for this monstrous infectious disease. The news prompted online Gambian newspapers and forums to
scramble for words to describe the President's sudden claim. Many received the news with disbelief and amazement, while
others went up to the extent of calling him insane, crazy, and weird.

The news additionally compelled western news media like Sky news to send a reporter to the Gambia to interview Jammeh
on his claims. ( http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31200-hurd_p2623,00.html ) That interview was
conducted while Jammeh was treating one of his patients with his local herbs. His response to the Sky News reporter
revealed a discomfort from the President on his willingness to share his evidence or lack thereof in convincing not only the
world, but even his patients about the discovery of his treatment. For a moment, the interview showed Jammeh's arrogance
normally displayed by African dictators who think they are not answerable to anybody, not even to the international
community much more to their people.

Other Western news outlets like the Star tribune in Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota
(http://www.startribune.com/389/story/1030812.html) , The Seattle Post Intelligencer in Seattle, The state of Washington (
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/304497_gambiaaids21.html), among others, all weighed in and described the
President's claim as 'weird' and 'unusual.' Jammeh was quoted saying "Whatever you do, there are bound to be skeptics,
but I can tell you, my method is foolproof, mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It's a declaration. I can cure AIDS and
I will." The said reporter shocked by Jammeh's blunt response appeared amazed by the Jammeh's declaration without any
scientific proof of his trial and error treatment.

As the world continues to be baffled by this unusual declaration not only from a sitting President, but also someone who is
neither medically trained nor legally licensed to practice medicine, there is growing cause for concern on the impact of this
treatment on these unfortunate HIV/AIDS patients. The biggest concern is that Jammeh makes his patients to stop taking
the anti-retroviral drugs which are so far known to be the most effective drug against the HIV virus that causes the disease
AIDS.

These expensive drugs are part of an aid package supplied free of charge by the World Bank through a grant called the
Global fund for treatment of Aids, Tuberculosis, and malaria (GFATM) to hundreds of HIV infected patients in the
Gambia. These drugs are said to be very expensive in other parts of the world and many African governments cannot
afford to purchase the drugs for the growing HIV/AIDS population in their countries. Aids activists in the Gambia fear that
if more patients continue to stop taking their drugs, then the Global fund would no longer be available to these people who
are in dire need of treatment to keep their hopes alive.

Another threat and probably the most disturbing about this whole declaration by Jammeh, is the impact his promise of
treatment will have on thousands of HIV/AIDS infected mothers and their young children in the Gambia. HIV/AIDS is not
only known to systematically destroy the human immune system, but also comes with other social consequences embedded
in society.

It is evident that many HIV/AIDS infected patients live with complete lost of hope in accomplishing anything in life. They
wakeup everyday thinking about their mortality and how they are going to make it to another day without being isolated
and dehumanized by their own family members simply because they are HIV infected victims. Majority of these victims are
innocent babies and children who have no hope of getting out of the house into the play ground, much more going to school
to get a decent education simply because they are sick day in and day out, and are sometimes without a healthy parent to
look after them and provide basic necessities of life.

The magnitude of the emotional distress of living life without hope on any human being, especially parents is immeasurable
to say the least. It is based on this emotional impact of giving thousands of these innocent victims a false hope of a cure for
HIV/AIDS, that many called Jammeh's declaration into question and a cause for concern. Did Jammeh think about what
the psychological impact of his trial-and-error treatment method would have on these peoples' lives? Did Jammeh think
about the confusion and anarchy that his announcement has on HIV/AIDS activists who are working tirelessly to educate
ordinary Gambians of the danger of this monstrous disease?

Furthermore, can and would Jammeh walk into the houses of Santa Yallah support society and other local HIV/AIDS
support groups in the Gambia, look into the eyes of hundreds of victims and promise them a cure for a virus that has put
their lives on the path to their inevitable mortality? Can Jammeh restore the hopes of these innocent young mothers with
their babies literally dying before their time from the hardship confronting them on a daily basis? Would it not make sense
for any decent human being to have some degree of evidence for a cure for such a devastating disease before declaring it
publicly?

Finally, it is normal for the world to receive such publicity with a degree of skepticism, especially one coming from a
scientifically untrained person. What is even more abnormal is that this declaration is coming from a sitting President who is
presiding over a political environment that allows such mysterious, unsubstantiated evidence to go unchallenged. The
ministry of health and the secretary of state's unconditional support of the President without a scientific proof of his cure
certainly did not come without an embracement to our public health system.

The prudent thing for the secretary of state for Health to have done was to give the President the benefit of the doubt on his
claim, but stick with the scientific evidence and caution against risky behaviors until a substantiated scientific evidence for
cure is provided. The secretary should have advised his commander in chief that the country and its citizens have more
credibility and technical assistance to lose should there be no evidence of a cure. The medical research council (MRC), one
of the best medical research institutes in West Africa, should have been engaged in determining whether in fact the
President's method has produced the much needed cure for the HIV virus that modern science is yet to discover. This
mature and professional way of handing the President's claim would have given our nation the benefit of the doubt, respect,
and positive publicity around the globe on this controversial claim.

It is important to conclude that Gambia has everything to gain should in fact one of it's citizens find a cure for this deadly
virus, but for now and until it is proven otherwise, it has only caused us embarrassment and negative publicity that sends
our proud citizens into hiding�

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