BANJUL, Gambia, March 17 (UPI) -- An herbal AIDS/HIV treatment used in Gambia has become a medical shuttlecock batted between its proponents and global health officials.
Gambian Health Minister Tamsim Mbowe defends the treatment, which Gambian President Yahya Jammeh claims came to him in a dream, CNN reported Saturday. "I can swear, 100 percent, that this herbal medication his excellency is using is working," Mbowe said. "It has the potency to treat and cure patients infected with the HIV virus."
However, world health officials such as U.N. envoy Fadzai Gwaradzimba advocate patients continue research-verified medications until Jammeh's potion is "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," the U.N. official said.
Jammeh, a former Army colonel with no formal medical training, announced in January that his treatment was revealed to him by his ancestors in a dream.
