Bush, Obama To Mark 20th Anniversary Of World AIDS Day Monday

December 1, 2008 7:53 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama will both deliver remarks on Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Both will attend a civil forum hosted by Saddleback church pastor Rick Warren in D.C., where Bush will receive be awarded a medal for his efforts fighting AIDS.

Obama will deliver taped remarks by video to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health, according to the presidential transition team.

Bush is scheduled to make a statement from the North Lawn of the White House. He will receive the first "International Medal of PEACE" from the Global PEACE Coalition during the forum.

The fight against HIV/AIDS has been one of the President's primary advocacies. His landmark legislation, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), was re-authorized earlier this year by Congress with an additional $48 billion. Bush has called the program "the largest international health initiative dedicated to fighting a single disease in history."