President George W. Bush was honoured on the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day for his commitment in AIDS fight and received the “International Medal of PEACE” given by Dr. Rick Warren on behalf of the Global PEACE Coalition during the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health. The president received the award and said that he “insisted on measurable goals” because he “felt lives needed to be saved.”

“No man in history – no world leader – has ever done more for global health than President George W. Bush, and I think we need to recognize that,” said Pastor Warren during the ceremony.

His President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) had reached its goal to support treatment for 2 million people ahead of schedule. The plan 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.

Bush reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fight against HIV/AIDS as the world marked the 20th AIDS Day.

In a message posted on his official Web site, Obama pledged to developing a comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce HIV infection, increase access to treatment and care and reduce HIV/AIDS-related health disparities. He promised that his administration will continue the “critical work” to address the AIDS crisis around the world.

President-elect Barack Obama congratulated President Bush for his accomplishments with HIV/AIDS and said that “all of us must do our part...and we must reaffirm our own commitment to confront and defeat this disease once and for all.” Obama admits that more efforts need to be done to confront the epidemic of HIV communities of color, especially amongst gay men and other men who have sex with men and calls for action to put an end to this problem.