Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 2/12/2007

February 12, 2007

U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) -

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - GAMBIA: President's AIDS cure raising more questions than answers

BANJUL, 12 February (PLUSNEWS) - An unsubstantiated but well-publicised claim by

The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh that he can cure AIDS risks setting back

efforts to stop the virus from spreading in the tiny West Africa nation and the

region, campaigners warn.

Speaking to an audience of hospital workers, AIDS activists, and diplomats in

mid-January, Jammeh announced that he had " perfected a treatment for the AIDS

virus " using herbs.

Patients would be cured within days, he promised.

Gambia's Minister of Health, Tamsir Mbowe has confirmed that the first 10

reportedly HIV-infected patients began receiving the treatment at the end of

January.

His department has released several statements saying that the health of

patients has improved, that their immune systems are stronger and that in some

patients, the virus was no longer detectable.

Patients purportedly healed have appeared regularly on state-run television.

The cure's secret ingredients according to Mbowe are Jammeh's " family knowledge

of traditional medicine " and " the teachings of the holy Koran. "

Sceptics at home

Jammeh's claim has won admiration from some. " A man in his position of authority

wouldn't pretend to treat something that he can't treat, " said Ousmane Sanusey,

a school teacher in Banjul.

But for Sam Sarr, editor-in-chief of the Foroyaa newspaper in Banjul, the claim

is dangerous until it is substantiated.

" A lot of people are sceptical, they have doubts, especially in urban areas, "

Sarr said. " In a society where a lot of people are fetishists, their lack of

knowledge leads them to believe that the president used supernatural powers to

find a cure. "

An editorial in Foroyaa warned that Jammeh's claim could be a threat to the

fight against AIDS in The Gambia, where the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is

estimated at 2.1 percent.

It could also set back campaigns to raise awareness that are funded by the World

Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Domestic criticism muted

Sarr is one of only a handful of prominent Gambians willing to publicly question

the president's cure.

Since Jammeh came to power in 1993, human rights groups say that freedom of

expression has been increasingly stifled in the tiny West African country, and

criticisms of the president are rare.

Asked to give a medical evaluation of the cure, a Gambian doctor refused saying:

" In the current political climate, I could lose my business. " The doctor

requested anonymity and refused to publicly or privately denounce the claim.

For Demba Ali Jawo, former president of the Gambia Press Union, the

international community's response is key.

" It is extremely necessary for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the

international community to come to the rescue of the Gambian AIDS patients, who

may be given false hopes and made to believe that they had been cured of the

infection while they are not, " he said in an interview with a local newspaper

WHEN.

International community silent

The international community is waiting for proof before it makes a judgement on

Jammeh's cure.

" We are working on a coordinated response by the UN system, " an official with

the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said, adding that UNAIDS

hoped to release a statement in the coming days.

An expert with WHO noted that international organisations were having difficulty

obtaining relevant information from Gambian authorities. " We have asked to visit

the laboratory to see how the treatment works but have had no response from the

department of health, " the official, who asked to speak anonymously said.

" We also asked the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) to provide us

with a copy of the broadcast of the treatment being administered to patients but

have received no response, " said the WHO official.

But regional NGOs have shown less reticence. " His claim is of a divine nature

and does not have any scientific basis, so it cannot be taken seriously, " said

Bede Eziefule, executive director at the Centre for Right to Health in Nigeria.

Ibrahim Umoro, a peer educator working for an international NGO in Nigeria said

the claim is an " insult to the medical profession " and an " insult to Africans " .

" The Gambian President and his Minister should not be allowed to spread their

ignorance to compound the problem that has defied a solution for so long, " Umoro

said.

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February 12, 2007