By Mamat Taal, Banjul.
As Africa celebrates world aids day, aids patients in The Gambia, said many of their colleagues have died in the recent past due to President Yahya Jammeh’s recent decree, which bared hiv patients in the country from using antiretroviral drugs. The said drug helps to prolong the lives of hiv patients. But in The Gambia, the Government had warned against the use of the said drug. The Gambian leader warned patients benefiting from his aids treatment program to stop using antiretroviral drugs if they want to be cured.
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Speaking to the Freedom Newspaper, one of the male hiv patients accused President Jammeh of endangering their lives by advising them not to use antiretroviral drugs. The patient claimed that many of his colleagues were dying in The Gambia due to President Jammeh’s decree against the use of antiretroviral dugs.
“Many of our group members are presently hospitalized with little hope of recovering. Some have died in the recent past. All these deaths can be attributable to the President. He is endangering our lives by warning us not to use antiretroviral drugs. The President knows that he cannot cure aids and yet he wants to secretly kill our group members by exposing them into such risky treatment program. As the world celebrates, world aids day, I’m appealing to the International Community to please come to our aid. Our group members are dying on a daily basis due to the president’s ill conceived advise.” said the 40 year old Gambian hiv patient.
According to the patient, the country’s hiv death toll has never been bad as it obtains today. “ The antiretroviral drugs was a good medication for us. Our group members had never been sick like this. The drug helps to keep us strong and healthy. But the President had warned against the use of antiretroviral drugs. Most of our group members are very sick as we speak. The President should lift the ban on the use of antiretroviral drugs in this country. His aids medication is rather aggravating the aids problem in the country.” he added.
In the recent past, President Jammeh announces that he was spiritually mandated to cure aids and asthma in The Gambia. His aids cure program attracted an international outcry. Anti aids activists had warned against the potential danger exposed to Jammeh’s aids cure program. For example, they said such false claims might promote fornication and risky behaviors in the country.
In response, The Gambian leader debunked his critics, accusing them of being anti progress. Jammeh insists that come what may he was going ahead with his aids cure project.
A female hiv patient said lacked of balanced diet and political will was hindering the fight against hiv in the Gambia. “A good number of our group are not working. We relied on family help to keep moving. The Government hardly support us financially. They keep on making cheap promises, but would never fulfill its promises. As hiv patients, we need good food to keep us strong. Without good food, we cannot make it.” said the female hiv patient.
The Government she said, should concentrate on minimizing hiv infection and not to initiate programs that are likely undermine or worsen the nation’s aids situation. “All what they are doing is to compound the aids problem in this country. They openly discriminate at our members by exposing our information to the GRTS TV and Radio. People points at us in Markets, streets and other public places. They call us hiv patients. Some of our members died due to stress and trauma. Our health status should not be shared with the public without our consent. But they went ahead to release our information to the press without even putting into consideration about the dangers of such actions. I had to move from Bakau to Nemakunku just to avoid neighbors. They looked at me and talked openly about my aids status.” said the hiv patient.
Discrimination against hiv patients is not knew in the Gambia. Patients complained of being denied jobs because of their hiv status. They also suffer from isolation.
As the world observes this important day, Gambia’s hiv infection rate stands at close to 40,000. Out of this figure, a good number of them are women and youth. Over 13,000 Gambians have already died from the aids pandemic.
An hiv research conducted by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health says Foni, the President’s birth region had the highest number of hiv cases, while Basse and Farafenni compete on the list.
Researchers blamed the rapid hiv infection rate in these localities to ignorance and lack of enough information to tackle the disease. Social Cultural practices, such as Female Genital Mutilation known as (FGM) has also been blamed for the problem. Communities engaged in the practice of FGM normally used one knife to circumcise dozens of children. Health officials say such practices exposed kids to hiv. They say such knives are never sterilized and its chances of infecting kids with hiv were very high.
A Non-Governmental Organization called GAMCOTRAP has been wagging a vigorous campaign against FGM and other social cultural practices that might endanger the life of the girl child. The Organization organizes Community based awareness campaign in a bid to raise communities awareness on the dangers of such practices.
The aids pandemic was first discovered in the Gambia, in May of 987. Since then the country had witnessed a steady increase on its hiv infection rate.
Aids activists have called for concerted efforts to fight aids in the Gambia. High on their agenda is positive living, condom use, grassroots education promotion and sincerity amongst couples.
Aids activists also want to see the end of pre-arraigned marriages in The Gambia and polygamous marriages. This, they say would help to eradicate hiv infection in a country, where about 80 percent of its citizens are Muslims.
