Dr Tamsir Mbowe, Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, has debunked remarks by Prof Souleymane Mboup on BBC Focus on Africa programme as "irresponsible and unprofessional".

Prof Soulaymane Mboup, a professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal was quoted on the BBC programme as saying he had been duped into analyzing the blood samples. He also claimed that "the interpretation by the Gambian authorities of the results of HIV antibody and viral load testing on blood samples sent to my laboratory is incorrect".

"In some samples viral load measures were below the level detectable by the tests. This is not surprising, since these patients had been treated with ARVs prior to the administration of the herbal treatment. Effective anti-retroviral therapy can reduce HIV viral load to below levels of detection," Mboup added.

Prof Mboup’s surprise comments came barely a month after the tests were carried out by him and published in February, as well as on the heels mounting pressure on scientists who associated themselves with President Jammeh’s HIV/Aids cure.

Reacting to the comments Health Secretary of State Mbowe lamented Prof Mboup’s assertions as "very irresponsible and unprofessional". Dr Mbowe argued that it was Prof Mboup’s himself who confirmed the undetectable viral loads in the blood samples. "Another lab test in Morocco shows that the viral loads were undetectable with high CD4 counts," he said.

Dr Mbowe, a practising gynaecologist, maintained that nobody in the world disputes the success of the President’s treatment, because none of them is having the herbal sample. "It is only the President who knows the herb. The President has the know-how and the capability to treat patients infected with HIV virus, which has been proven within all medical and laboratory parameters.

Dr Mbowe pointed out that it needs not to be a ‘rocket scientist’ to know the effectiveness of Jammeh’s treatment, saying "the laboratory and clinical gains (CD4 counts, disappearance of viral loads and complications) speak for themselves".

The Gambian Health Minister asserted that the "beauty of medical science in the 21st Century has repeatedly shown that what is incurable yesterday is often remedy today. And what is incurable today, is often curable tomorrow".

"In this great land of ours", he added: "The President has discovered medicine to treat and cure patients infected and affected with HIV/Aids. He is the great medical doctor of the 21st Century".

Dr Mbowe then invited medical professionals to come forward and witness the success of the President’s HIV/Aids cure, adding that there are many more surprises from him for the treatment of other diseases.