Professor Alhaji Yahya  A JJ Jammeh, President of the Republic of The Gambia, yesterday afternoon, treated some 536 asthmatic patients, Gambians and non-Gambians alike.

These patients constitutes the 3rd batch of asthmatic patients to have been treated by President Jammeh. The treatment session was done at the State House in Banjul. Speaking to journalists during the session, Dr Tamsir Mbowe, director general of the Presidential Medical Treatment Programme, who also doubles as the director of Health Services, said at the end of every treatment session, they ususally conduct general medical examination in order to monitor the performance of the patients.

It is against this background, he said, that patients are urged to report back after every month or sometimes within two weeks. "The president is busy and has a lot of constitutional requirements that he takes care of. And so organizing a treatment session requires proper planning," he remarked.
Dr Mbowe also seized the opportunity to appeal to the patients to register with them before coming for the treatment.  This, he said, will help them to know the actual number of patients coming up for the presidential treatment.

He also called on all the registered hypertensive and asthmatic patients in and outside The Gambia to come for the next treatment sessions on Thursday, November 27, 2008.For her part, Fatou Ceesay-Nyabally, principal private secretary to the Chief Medical Director of RVTH, who is suffering from both asthma and hypertension, said the treatment is effective as she had experienced a significant drop in her blood pressure.

Mrs Ceesay-Nyabally revealed that she got diagnosed with asthma 3 years ago and that she had been used to taking only ventoline.  She noted however that having been taking the president's medicine, she had realized great improvement in her health status. Penny Manneh, a British lady who is also suffering from both hypertension and asthma, also described the president's medicine as effective.  She said she had realized tremendous improvement in her condition as she had also experienced a significant drop in her blood pressure.

She thanked President Jammeh for his "generosity and good work." Mamat Sowe, an asthmatic patient from Manu Kunda in the North Bank Region, also commended President Jammeh for his treatment programme.  He narrated that while he was coming for the treatment, he could not even open his eyes but that he felt better immediately after taking the president's medication.Bekai Janko, a resident of Tallinding, who is also an asthmatic patient, expressed similar sentiments.