As the world marked the 20th AIDS Day on December 1st, President G W Bush reiterated his government’s commitment to fight HIV/AIDS globally. His statement was followed by President-Elect, Barack Obama, who informed of a national strategy to fight HIV/AIDS.

Barack Obama said “Today is World AIDS Day, a day we reaffirm our commitment to fight HIV/AIDS at home and abroad.” Obama praised Bush for his endeavors and promised to continue this ‘critical work’.

President G W Bush said the target of treating two million people that he had set had been reached several months early. “It’s the largest international health initiative dedicated to a single disease.. (the program) is bringing hope and healing to people around the world.”

Over two million people living with HIV/AIDS, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, have been aided with antiretroviral treatments since the end of September, thanks to the US initiative. The program targets people in:

– Botswana
– Ethiopia
– Guyana
– Haiti
– Ivory Coast
– Kenya
– Mozambique
– Namibia
– Nigeria
– Rwanda
– South Africa
– Tanzania
– Uganda
– Vietnam
– Zambia

The Saddleback Civil Forum was attended by G W Bush, the First Lady Laura Bush and hosted by Pastor Rick Warren. Barack Obama, who was at Chicago at the time, sent a video-message.

— Click here to read the Full Transcript of the G W Bush conversation with Pastor Warren.

— Click here to see the 20-Minute Video Of Barack Obama Commemorating the 20th Annual World AIDS Day

Below are some quotes from G W Bush and B Obama

“Too many people are unaware that while HIV/AIDS is incurable, it is 100 percent preventable. And far too many people have become infected because they lack basic information about how this disease is spread. I intend to confront the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS – a stigma which is too often tied to racism, sexism and homophobia. That is what Michelle and I tried to do by taking a public HIV test in Kenya a few years ago. We must engage in honest, open dialogue and reach out to those most at risk. My administration will educate people about HIV/AIDS, ensure people living with HIV/AIDS have access to treatment, and work with Congress to enact an extensive program of prevention, including access to comprehensive age-appropriate sex education for all school age children. We will also keep faith with the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world by continuing to support the work of the Global AIDS Fund and maintaining our strong leadership through the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief.”
Barack Obama

“I insisted upon measurable goals because I felt that lives needed to be saved. And if you don’t have measurable goals, lives might not be saved. This is — we live in a process world in government. Oftentimes people said, well, what are the inputs? This is an administration that tried to get people to ask the question, are we actually doing something? And so we set a goal of saving 50,000 — well, when we got started there were 50,000 people getting antiretrovirals in all sub-Sahara Africa. And we set a goal of 2 million by five years to get antiretrovirals.”
George W Bush

Written by Christian Nordqvist