After two years and nine months since the Gambian leader,His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh made the pronouncement before the world of herbal medicine, his ability to treat several diseases and the formation of the Presidential Treatment Programme(PTP), over six thousand patients have been treated, revealed Dr Tamsir Mbowe, the director general of the Presidential Treatment Programme.

Dr Mbowe, a renowned medical doctor, revealed this while speaking to the Daily Observer during an exclusive interview at his office in Kanifin. He revealed that this figure includes patients in all the different areas of the treatment programme; such as HIV/AIDS, infertility, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, amongst others.

Sixth batch treatment

The Presidential Treatment Programme director general revealed that they are currently on registration of the sixth batch of HIV/AIDS patients who will be treated by President Jammeh. He revealed that presently, they have already registered over 500 HIV/AIDS patients for the upcoming sixth batch treatment, but noted that along the line some will be dropped for various reasons such as those with certain chronic diseases that couldn't be taken care of.

For the start of any particular treatment, according to him, there are series of investigations that are conducted on the patients. "For example in the case of HIV/AIDS, we conduct what we call CT scan, viral load check, CD4 count check, full blood count check, blood urea test, liver function test, chest x-ray, and sometimes abdominal scan for some patients, amongst others," he indicated.

All these investigations, he explained, are done in order to rule out any underlying disease before the start of the treatment with a view to avoiding hampering the treatment. Mbowe described the treatment programme as a very complex; one that is time consuming."It is a complex one because the president is managing different types of patients with different diseases ranging from infertility, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other diseases," he stated. "As a result of that," he continued, "we have plenty of patients. At the moment, as I speak to you, thousands of patients are out there waiting for different treatments. That is why whenever they call us, we ask them to remain calm as all of them will be taken care of," he remarked.

Impact of PTP on health sector

The Presidential Treatment Programme, according to Dr Mbowe has impacted positively on the health sector of the country. Since the inception of the treatment programme, he noted, bed occupancy in health facilities has significantly reduced. "Beds which have been occupied by patients suffering from asthma, diabetes and infertility are now being used by other patients in our respective facilities," he indicated. "Voluntary Council and Testing has increased immensely in our respective health facilities because people now have full confidence that when they are tested positive on HIV/AIDS they would be managed.

Initially that was a very big problem," he observed. The money used for the procurement of drugs and for other management purposes, he added are now being redirected to other areas in the health sector.

Dr Mbowe went on to express delight at the breakthrough in the infertility treatment aspect of the Presidential Treatment Programme. He revealed that out of the 800 infertility patients who have been treated by President Jammeh, 465 patients have so far got pregnant. This, he said is a significant record as far as infertility treatment is concerned. As far as Dr Mbowe is concerned, the primary aim of any medical practitioner is to restore the sick to health. "And a medical practitioner, according to my lecturers is judged by the number of patients the individual is able to help in his or her medical career and not the position he or she held or the number of degrees or the universities he had gone through. That is the most essential thing as a medical practitioner," he indicated, while noting that President Jammeh has achieved this.

He stated the fact that any normal medical practitioner will appreciate The Gambian leader's contribution to the health sector of the country, reiterating that the beauty of medicine is the restoration of the sick back to health. "And once you were able to achieve that by using any types of medical herbs, you should be recommended," he stated.

The Presidential Treatment director general used the opportunity to thank President Jammeh for coming up with medical herbs that have the potential to treat patients with complicated ailments. In the same vein, he also thanked the team of courageous personalities of the treatment programme, the parents and relatives of the patients and all those who contributed to the treatment programme in one way or the other.

Dr Tamsir Mbowe concluded by saying that the final selection and date for the treatment of the sixth batch of the HIV/AIDS patients will be done by President Jammeh.

Background

It could be recalled that the Presidential Treatment Programme, sanctioned by President Jammeh as part of his crusade of saving humanity from scourge of complicated diseases started on the 17th January, 2007.

Since the inception of the treatment programme, thousands of patients have undergone different treatment as can be justified by the revelation above. Most of these patients have now gone back to their respective societies and performing their respective social responsibilities.