At least 21 hypertension and 21 asthmatic patients yesterday received President Yahya Jammeh’s herbal treatment at the State House, Banjul. The treatment was witnessed by Mr J-Wen Liang, Plant Manager and Gustavo Kao, Sales Specialist at the International Trade Department of Sun Ten Pharmaceutical Company of the Republic of Taiwan.

The officials where led by Dr Patrick Chang, Taiwanese ambassador to The Gambia, accompnied by Mrs Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, secretary of state for Communication and Information Technology, Honourable Crispin Grey-Johnson, Secretary of state for Foreign Affairs and Ousman Jammeh, Secretary General.

President Jammeh also treated another 135 HIV/AIDS patients. Out of the total number, 77 are Gambian, 25 foreigners.  The foreign patients are from Senegal, Guinea Conakary, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Malawi and Sierra Leone.

Speaking shortly after the treatment attended by the Sun Ten Pharmaceutical Company officials, President Jammeh commended the Sun Ten officials for sparing their time to attend the exercise and for opening their doors to him during his visit to Taipei in December last year.

He briefed the delegation on the treament process saying “we dont give out the medicine for smoebody to take it home. We administer the medicine here and observe the patient and if there is any side effect, we have counter measures. If they take the medicine at home and drink it and there are complications, and something happens to the patient, they will say the president gave it to the patient. Also before I give medicine to anybody, I drink it first. But here, we have all negative reactions and counter measures in case there is any side effect after taking the medicine” he said.

President Jammeh then added that in the treatment for the HIV/AIDS, they dont allow the patients to share anything. He said each of the patients have his or her own bed sheet, cup, towel and every person gets what he or she needs daily.

He told the delegation that the reason why they don’t use the same items for different patients is that some of them have very serious skin leison and some of it are much contagious. “So every one came with his or her own cup and everything is individual. Once they are here for the treament, everything is supplied to them” he said.

The Gambian leader added that during the course of the treament, they don’t allow any patient to take any food or drink from outside. “We dont allow them to go out when they are on the treament. They only go out when we are certain that they are OK. So the latest herb I have dicovered is the most effective for the treatment of HIV/AIDs” he said.

He then commended the delegation for the visit and expressed hope that they have learnt a lot. He also dilated on the limitation of the medicine noting that producing it on a larger scale will help them treat more people at any given time as according to him the medication is for humanity.

For his part, Crispin Grey-Johnson, secretary of state for Foreign Affairs said for President Jammh to open the doors of the glass house to any one who is not his immediate entourage, indicates the trust and confidence he reposes on those people. He added that for the delegtion to come and witness as well as partake in the administration of the treatment indicates a high level of trust President Jammeh has of the Taiwanese people.

He expressed hope that this will open doors for further cooperation betwen Sun Ten and The Gambia, especially to further accelerate the ways to produce these medicine so that more people can benefit from it and to make it possible for more patients to be brought in for the treament. “

So if we are able to use a certain level of technology on the rates of the medicine production, many more people not only from the Gambia but the rest of the world, will benefit from it” he said. He equaly thanked the delegation for their goodwill and hope that a more vibrant cooperation in many areas will emerge from the visit.

Dr Patrick Chang, Taiwanese ambassdor to the Gambia on behalf of the delegation from Sun Ten Pharmaceutical Company, Taipei, Taiwan expressed gratitude to President Jammeh for honouring them to witness the way he treats the patients.

“We are touched by the way they are treated. We are also very impressed to see that the patients recover which is a great impact that President Jammeh is doing” he said.

According to him, the Sun Ten officials are in The Gambia to see how they can help and get cooperation in the future with the Gambia, more especially in the manufacturing  of the medicine.

He commended the Gambian leader for honouring them and expressed hope that the visit will bear fruits.

Dr Tamsir Mbowe, director general of the President’s treatment programme commented on the effectiveness of the traditional medicine, and the application of the skin leison medicine prior to the treatment of every patient as some of them are suffering from serious skin disease. According to him, the skin leison medicine is applied to all patients as it takes care of other body conditions and is very effective.