Bush's AIDS fight gets PEACE award; White House in red (News Feature)

By Anne K Walters Dec 1, 2008, 19:07 GMT

Washington - As most Americans were beginning to think about hanging their Christmas decorations, the White House first paused to mark another anniversary - the 20th World AIDS Day - with a giant red AIDS ribbon on the presidential residence.

The 8.5-metre-high decoration which appeared Monday on the north portico symbolized the US 'resolve to confront' the dreaded scourge that has infected 33 million people worldwide, US President George W Bush said.

But his commitment to fighting the disease is more than just symbolic, and even his critics and political opponents have lauded his administration's work on the issue.

The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has spent 18.8 billion dollars from 2003 to 2008 to fight the pandemic and a further 48 billion dollars has been authorized by Congress for the next five years.

The programme has provided antiretroviral drugs to over 2.1 million people, most of them in Africa, where only 50,000 were getting the treatment before 2003. In total 10 million people affected by the disease, including 4 million orphans, have received care under the effort.

The president was honoured for his commitment on Monday and received the first International Medal of PEACE from Pastor Rick Warren, who has led efforts to focus religious leaders on the scourge of AIDS in Africa.

The PEACE acronym stands for promotion of reconciliation, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick and educating the next generation.

In a relaxed, sit-down interview with Warren at Washington's Newseum, Bush looked back on his commitment to fighting AIDS while stressing the need to continue the efforts under the next administration.

Warren, who leads California's Saddleback Church that counts 83,000 congregants, pushed Bush to address critics who say the US shouldn't spend money on the project when the economy is tanking.

And Bush stuck by his AIDS efforts.

'Because we're a rich nation. And we can do both. And the worst thing would be for our government to make promises to people in the continent of Africa that we're here to help you and to be partners with you, and then, all of the sudden, turn our back on them.'

Indeed, Obama, who has expressed his support for PEPFAR and has family ties to Africa, said in a video message to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health that he would bolster efforts to fight the disease.

'In my administration, we will continue this critical work to address the crisis around the world,' Obama said. 'But we must also recommit ourselves to adressing the AIDS crisis here in the United States with a strong national strategy of education, prevention and treatment, focusing on those communities at greatest risk.'

Bush sees the fight against AIDS as part of efforts to spread freedom around the world and stressed that he had to act on the major health issue.

'When you have somebody say there's a pandemic that you can help, and you do nothing about it, then you have, frankly, disgraced the office,' he said, adding that the effort had been brought to his attention by several advisors.

He stressed that working to combat AIDS made sense from many standpoints, including the economic and humanitarian perspectives as well as that of national security, where helping to fight the HIV scourge can help combat the rise of violent extremism and give people hope.

'It's in our moral interest, we're a better nation when we save lives,' Bush said.

He also expressed relief that it gave some people a reason to like him after his popularity tanked worldwide as result of the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He recalled a visit to Tanzania in which people lined up to wave at the US president.

'It's good to see them all waving with all five fingers, I might add,' Bush joked after receiving obscene gestures in other travels.