AIDS cure or sick joke by African president?

ThePrude · #1 03-16-2007, 03:46 PM

came to him in a dream...

Quote:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa...ica/index.html

AIDS cure or sick joke by African president?

BANJUL, Gambia (CNN) -- At the only hospital in the capital of this tiny West African nation, a 3-year-old AIDS patient named Suleiman receives his daily dose of medication -- a murky brown concoction of seven herbs and spices served out of a bottle that once contained pancake syrup.

The boy is told a spoonful a day will make him better. His mother, Fatuma, takes the same concoction, as do several dozen other AIDS and HIV patients here. Adults take two spoonfuls.

"It's amazing," Fatuma says. "Two weeks ago, I was very ill, weak and couldn't eat without vomiting."

This has become the treatment for HIV/AIDS patients here since early January, when Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced he had discovered a cure for the disease that has wreaked havoc across Africa. He made that announcement in front of a group of foreign diplomats, telling them the treatment was revealed to him by his ancestors in a dream.

His concoction has stirred controversy and anger among health officials who say the president's claims will bring false hope to the nation's more than 20,000 HIV/AIDS patients. They are also afraid that it could cause patients to stop taking the anti-retroviral drugs that have been proven to prolong life and improve quality of living.

One critic was Fadzai Gwaradzimba, the U.N. envoy to Gambia. She was abruptly kicked out of the country after saying on February 9 that patients should continue their normal treatment and that Jammeh's concoction be "assessed by an international team of experts."

"The U.N. system encourages all patients currently receiving anti-retroviral treatment to continue to comply with their recommended treatment regimens while the efficacy of the new treatment is being assessed," she said.

The U.N. Development Program stands by the envoy's remarks. The World Health Organization has also been critical of Jammeh's treatment.

Jammeh, 41, is a former army colonel who has no formal medical training. He wears white robes and carries a copy of the Quran with him in this mostly Muslim nation.

His degree is a high school diploma. But he claims his family has a history of healing people through traditional African medicine.

At the hospital in the capital, patients claim the president's concoction is making a difference to them.

Ousman Sow, 54, said he's been HIV-positive since 1996 and had been taking anti-retrovirals for the past fours years until he volunteered for this program.

Four weeks later, he said he's gained 30 pounds and feels like a new person.

"I am cured at this moment," he said.

Asked if he had any HIV symptoms, he responded, "No, I don't. As I stand before you I can honestly tell you I have ceased to have any HIV symptoms."

Patient after patient gave similar statements to CNN. But it was difficult to verify the authenticity of their testimony. The government claims to have scientific evidence, but it did not provide any to CNN.

Jammeh refused to speak to CNN for this report.

CNN also sought medical reports of the HIV/AIDS patients to see whether they are indeed on the mend. The material was not provided. The government would also not release the concoction to CNN for testing.

Gambian Health Minister Tamsim Mbowe, a trained physician with multiple medical degrees, defended the so-called herbal cure.

"I can swear, 100 percent, that this herbal medication His Excellency is using is working. It has the potency to treat and cure patients infected with the HIV-virus," he told CNN.

What does he have to say to skeptics?

"I will tell them, as a Western medical trained doctor with 13 years experience meeting different professors, meeting different colleagues of mine, I've seen His Excellency, my leader, coming up with herbal medications that are able to treat and cure patients with HIV-virus, which have been proven within all medical and laboratory parameters."

Health officials worldwide remain doubtful of these claims. Experts also say it's in places like Gambia that the poor and desperate will latch onto anything resembling hope -- and that the government's claims are nothing more than a sick joke.

"For a country's leader to come up with such an outlandish conclusion is not only irresponsible, but also very dangerous, and he should be reprimanded and stopped from proclaiming such nonsense," said Professor Jerry Coovadia of the University of Kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa.

BleedingHeart · #2 03-16-2007, 03:50 PM

He's not cured, maybe symptoms alieviated, certain plants and herbs do help eg. Eucommia. But cured....exaggeration would be an understatement.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #3 03-16-2007, 03:58 PM

I would say "commence testing of it in laboratory conditions immediately". If the president isn't just some total cunt, he'll gladly tell people the recipe. I don't think there's any intellectual property laws concerning dreams, and presumably whoever or whatever told him would eventually tell someone else if it was anything other than just a dream.

Seriously, this has got to be worth looking into (fuck knows it's not like we can cure it either) and I am hopeful, but it's one of those times where skepticism really cannot do any harm.

Meg Dirty · #4 03-16-2007, 04:17 PM

this is really sad.

HighClassHo · #5 03-16-2007, 04:23 PM

this is the power of the mind and possitive thinking. The patients believe the medicine works and they force their bodies to heal. The mind controls the body and you can totally heal yourself. Are there HIV free?? probably not but their minds can cure them into being HIV Symptom free.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #6 03-16-2007, 04:31 PM

They'll still die though. So it's not that positive.

Little Fury · #7 03-16-2007, 04:34 PM

There are and have been aids miracle stories/cures circulating the internet since the internet has existed.

By all means, test away.

HighClassHo · #8 03-16-2007, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ophiel Ophiuci

They'll still die though. So it's not that positive.

not from AIDS, you can bet on that.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #9 03-16-2007, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighClassHo

not from AIDS, you can bet on that.

If you mean that, because AIDS is an immuno-deficiency, and as such you don't so much die from AIDS as you do from AIDS-related illnesses (which you would otherwise have been far more likely to recover from without any difficulty) e.g. pneumonia, then yes, you're right.

If you mean that, because of positive thinking, there'd be absolutely no chance of you dying from AIDS-related illness because you were just thinking so positively, please never speak or type anything again as long as you live.

Whether or not this cure is a bunch of hooey, one thing that is absolutely clear at this point is that no-one is sure that it works. You must have some idea how much corruption there is in Africa. Aren't you at all suspicious that of all people a politician comes up with a miracle cure for AIDS?

HighClassHo · #10 03-16-2007, 05:11 PM

I never said the medicine works. The people in the article said they no longer have symptoms and I'm sure it's because of their mind and they'll likely won't have any AIDS.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #11 03-16-2007, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighClassHo

I never said the medicine works. The people in the article said they no longer have symptoms and I'm sure it's because of their mind and they'll likely won't have any AIDS.

Yeah, and that's just stupid, because as you already said, all a placebo can do is fight psychosomatic symptoms of a disease. The disease is still there.

As I understand it, most disease symptoms are produced as a result of the body's immune system fighting disease. AIDS devastates that immune system.

Trust me on this: happy thoughts alone will not cure AIDS.

HighClassHo · #12 03-16-2007, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ophiel Ophiuci

system.

Trust me on this: happy thoughts alone will not cure AIDS.

it will stop you from dying of it, just like these people don't suffer the symptoms anymore.

True believe in something can alter reality.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #13 03-16-2007, 05:24 PM

If that's what you honestly believe, for your own sake, try not to get AIDS.

I mean, I doubt you were planning to anyway, but it'd probably be for the best if you avoided testing this theory.

HighClassHo · #14 03-16-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ophiel Ophiuci

If that's what you honestly believe, for your own sake, try not to get AIDS.

I mean, I doubt you were planning to anyway, but it'd probably be for the best if you avoided testing this theory.

I don't plan on testing it, because I don't have to. It's true. Some people call it "the placebo effect" and some say it's faith, faith is more accurate.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #15 03-16-2007, 05:33 PM

Well okay, just don't try it out, and don't encourage others to either. Even if this stuff does work, you should still explore medical science type avenues as well. There's no such things as being too healthy, after all.

HighClassHo · #16 03-16-2007, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ophiel Ophiuci

Well okay, just don't try it out, and don't encourage others to either. Even if this stuff does work, you should still explore medical science type avenues as well. There's no such things as being too healthy, after all.

but I'm not saying the contrary. This is you trying to disprove or devalue something you just can't comprehend.

People should go to doctors, just don't depend solely on them.

It's like that book by the woman who left her body in a near death experience.

She said she discovered how the spirit controls the mind and the mind controls the body, and the body can't control us unless we allow it.

She said that medicines and the hands of a physician can create the right conditions for healing but it's only the mind that's trully going to heal.

Ophiel Ophiuci · #17 03-16-2007, 05:42 PM

I'm being skeptical. That doesn't mean I wouldn't embrace this if it was shown to work. It just means that I'm going to need more than just testimony.

I know that positivity does improve the immune system (or rather than stress and anxiety weakens it, which is effectively the same difference). However, that doesn't apply to everything. Positivity and negativity can help lessen or worsen side effects and symptoms, yes, but if there's something physically wrong with a person, it won't help, you know? There are some things the body can fight on its own, and there are some things that it can't.

SOG · #18 03-17-2007, 12:02 AM

whatever probably some gov scam so they don't have to pay up for free ARV drugs for people in Gambia who are HIV Positive. Nice. But a lot of westerners believe in or try herbal medicines. not just in africa.

zoanthropy · #19 03-17-2007, 09:52 AM

Ohmigosh a cure..

So that means I can have Sex with all the Florida prostitutes and all I have to do is drink the cure drink and I am safe from Aids?

Ohmigosh where can I get some?