Bush: Huge AIDS ribbon on White House signals US support for fight

Dec 1, 2008, 15:24 GMT

Washington - A huge red AIDS ribbon hung Monday on the north portico of the White House Monday, symbolizing the US 'resolve to confront' the dreaded scourge that has infected 33 million people worldwide, US President George W Bush said.

Bush emphasized the accomplishments of his nearly eight years in office in supporting the fight against AIDS, which even his critics acknowledge was one of the strongest overtures of his administration.

The ribbon, Bush said, affirmed 'the matchless value of every life.'

He claimed his emergency plan for AIDS relief, known as PEPFAR, was the 'largest international health initiative dedicated to a single disease.'

The President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a commitment of 15 billion dollars from 2003 to 2008 to fight the pandemic.

'When we launched PEPFAR, our goal was to support treatment for 2 million people in five years. Today I'm pleased to announce that we have exceeded that goal early,' Bush said.

He said the programme was providing lifesaving treatment for more than 2 million people around the world. When the programme began, only 50,000 people living with HIV in all of sub-Sahara Africa received the anti-retroviral treatment.

The US has also supported care for more than 10 million people affected by HIV, including more than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children, Bush said.

'More than 237,000 babies have been born HIV free, thanks to the support of the American people for programs to prevent mothers from passing the virus on to their children,' he said.