The scourge of HIV/Aids, which has remained a nightmare for the rest of humanity, has become a thing of the past in The Gambia.

This would not have been so without the great efforts of the admirable figure in the person of His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, who continues to strive hard in his own capacity to provide cure for this deadly disease. It is over two years now since Professor Jammeh took the bull by the horn and proved to the rest of the world that wonderful things can come out from The Gambia, one of the smallest countries on the continent of Africa. This is supposed to be a pride for Africans as it is Africa which bears the brunt of the epidemic, not only in terms of the number of people living with the disease, but also the number of people who have to take care of infected relatives, orphaned children and so on.

Dr Tamsir Mbowe, the chief medical director of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH), is the director general of the president's treatment programme. He recalled that there was extreme joy surrounding the Breakthrough when the first CD4 counts results were announced on 17 June 2007.  This, he said, served as the first proof of Professor Jammeh's treatment success. "I was filled with joy and happiness when the results came out, showing and proving the effectiveness of the president's treatment. With those results, he said, it was a proof to the whole world that finally, a cure has been discovered. It also meant that President Jammeh had picked up a huge global fight on behalf of the Gambian people and humanity at large in the form of treating HIV/Aids.

For Dr Mbowe, this development is a gift to President Jammeh by Almighty Allah. "Allah gave him the knowledge and talent to cure people living with the disease," he said, adding that knowledge is a natural gift from God to man and that once given to any individual, they should be respected and commended.

Lamenting on the president's sympathy for humanity, he said: "I could see the love and sympathy that he has for his patients. He is very passionate with his patients. He cares for them a lot. All patients that have undergone his treatment really appreciate the help and love he showed them.  Thousands of people, he said, has benefited from the treatment. Many are now aware and convinced about the treatment. They know that there is a cure, and there are more patients now than before."

Dr Mbowe urged Gambians and all good thinking people to continue praying for the president, calling on individuals, institutions, and parastatals to support the treatment program considering the cost involved "It is not only Gambians who benefit from this treatment. People are coming from all over the world," he said, while commending Gambians and the entire medical team for their hard work and determination towards the treatment programme.