President Yahya Jammeh, on Friday August 17, received at Kanilai a sum of D2.4 million from different departments, institutions and individuals for his breakthrough in the cure for HIV/AIDS, asthma and diabetes, through his herbal medication, which started some seven months ago.

The cheques were presented to the Gambian leader by Mrs. Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, Secretary of State for Communications and Information Technology.

Receiving the cheques, President Jammeh said: “First of all, I want to thank the Almighty Allah who made these things possible. I am deeply touched with this wonderful gesture by Gambians and non-Gambians alike. My research into finding an alternative treatment for HIV/AIDS was a thing living purely by humanitarian consideration because when you look around the world about 98 percent of the people who die of this disease are Africans and Asians, all members of the human society. The wealthier world pays a lip service to the tackling of these families.”

He said there is a proverb that says the herbalist first cures before blaming the sick person. But, in the case of AIDS, sick people are blamed and they are not even treated. “The cause of HIV is blamed on Africans for various lifestyles, which I believe that Africans and Asians have better normal standards of lifestyles, than the rest of the world. The objective and the reason there is, each time that they tell you that 25 million people are HIV positive, they tell you that 24.5 million are Africans. When they talk about sub-Saharan Africa, they mean black Africans. The black is bearing the pain of the scourge. Why? Only the Almighty Allah knows and then they will tell you that there is no cure,” he added.

President Jammeh said his principles are very simple. “They can say they have not found the cure yet, but a decease that is incurable will never exist. In fact, Allah created all these for one reason or the other, but there is nothing in this world that will exist without a cure. But, also whatever exists- good or bad, there is a remedy for it. So, there will be no disease in this world that is incurable. They can only say that they have not yet found a cure for the disease. Well, I don’t want to go too deep into this, because I dilated a lot on it, but I can raise my hand that there is cure for AIDS, because we gained a lot of knowledge in the past seven months. I think I can thereby raise my hands and challenge the experts on AIDS. I know more about AIDS than they know,” President Jammeh pointed out.

President Jammeh, said he knew a lot about AIDS because he has touched the patients, ate and drank with them, chatted with them, laughed with them, and cried with them. And has also seen what it takes to get rid of the virus and how, noting that he has more information about AIDS to the point that all what he needs to know about AIDS he knew it.

He said “if he wants to know whether somebody is HIV/AIDS positive or not; if he wants there will be no need for the person to go for a laboratory test”. He then added that there is a medication that he can use to tell whether a person has HIV/AIDS or not, noting that the treatment is very effective.

He added that his objective is to completely eradicate the virus from peoples’ bodies, and then noted that he has never seen the physical symptoms of the virus in the papers, internet or television. He said if he wants after the treatment of the patients, he can discharge them without going for further laboratory test. And then noted that “if the person urinates and the colour becomes yellow, shows that the virus is expelled from the body”.

“The treatment is expensive, very expensive for that matter and at some point somebody was suggesting that we should charge a token for the treatment. I have made a pledge to the Almighty that we will not charge a single butut, because I did not pay Allah to give me the medication for the treatment.

What we use is natural herbs that did not belong to me, but to Allah. But, the treatment is expensive. We have to feed them, clothe them, attend to the patients and accommodate them. Though, the treatment is expensive, but Allah is in control. We are going to treat people free of charge, either Gambians or foreigners, because we are doing the service of humanity,” President Jammeh said.

He then thanked the donors for their generosity and kind gesture in making such donations. He said it is worth congratulating the committee of President Jammeh HIV/AIDS Trust Fund. He assured the general public that the treatment is for all Africans, based on humanitarian grounds. He said: “People have suffered, families have suffered, so our duty is to help people and all Africans for that matter.

We have gained a lot of experience and if anybody who is diagnosed with AIDS, we can cure you. Those infected from one to four years, is not difficult to be treated, but it’s more difficult when it is eighteen years and above. Even with that also it depends on the body composition of the size. What we have notice is that people have multiple combinations. They combine HIV 1 and 2 and that is the easiest thing to treat. It didn’t take two weeks, we cleared the virus and that I explained typically why? The combination of HIV 1 and 2 is the easiest to eradicate from somebody’s body. We want to assure you that we are very grateful for the gesture,” he added.

President Jammeh further revealed that he also has cure for high blood pressure or hypathension which he will start treating soon.

For her part, Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, Secretary of State for Communications and Information Technology, said in January, this year President Jammeh told the world that he was going to cure people with HIV/AIDS. “Your Excellency, you have also said you are going to cure, not because of fame which you have already had or money but for the sake of humanity. Some of us who have been in the media and privileged to be present during the first treatment can attest to the fact that some of the patients came under difficult health conditions which you were able to restore their health conditions”.

She then hailed the great humility the President has demonstrated, the sympathy and care he has shown, and above all, the improvement on the health conditions of the patients.

She added that this great and wonderful development in The Gambia, has to be documented, not only here for Gambian people and the rest of the world, but for posterity. “It is my fervent belief that history will judge us, if we failed to document this God- given achievement. As we celebrate the 13th Anniversary of the July 22 Revolution, I produced the documentary of this breakthrough part II. I also decided to copy the documentary and the sponsorship package to the HIV/AIDS Trust Fund for your programmes. The respond was positive,” SoS Macdouall-Gaye said.

Baba Mustapha Marong, Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Communications and Information Technology, said when the announcement was made that the President has discovered a cure for HIV/AIDS, asthma and diabetes, there were many who were skeptical about it. “I do not intend to say much about the treatment and how it was conducted because there are more competent people to do that. However, I am as qualified as anyone in the country to say President Jammeh’s treatment for HIV/AIDS, asthma and diabetes works. Our inability to explain how it works does not reduce anything from the validity of the therapies,” he added.

He said Gambians have had a high level of appreciation of the efforts of President Jammeh, including logistics, such as transport, the boarding and provision of some basic items that trainees need in order to partake in the treatment. “Research and experience show that people want to support ideas that will make a difference in other people’s lives. Too often they are presented with conventional, poorly articulated ideas that failed to convince. The President’s initiative is definitely not one of these, hence the willingness of Gambians to support. Many Gambians feel it is a collective moral responsibility to support the initiative,” he said.

Mr. Marong said the preparation of the documentary was seen by many as an opportunity to show support, noting that SoS Neneh Macdouall-Gaye has received voluntary contributions from Gambian institutions and people across the country during the preparation of the documentary.