Remarks by President George W. Bush Announcing Pink Ribbon, Red Ribbon

Thank you all. Thank you. Nice to be back in the ‘hood. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Madame Secretary [Hillary Clinton], thank you for being here.

When the idea was first broached about the Bush Institute to be involved in health care in the developing world, and people approached me about dealing with cervical cancer. And I was told that under your leadership, the Statement Department was going to play a major role. I knew we were on our way to great success. And I think you for your leadership. (Applause.) Give old 42 my best. (Laughter.)

I want to welcome the first lady of Rwanda here. I am honored to be in your presence. Please give your husband the best regards from Laura and me. And thank you Jeanette [Kagame] for coming. (Applause.)

I’m proud to be here with our longtime friend Nancy Brinker of the Komen Foundation. I want to thank you, Madame Ambassador for your leadership. Thank you for partnering in this vital effort.

I think thank Michel Sidibé, director of the UNAIDS, for being here. Michel, thank you bringing an international component to what we’re about to do.

I think to thank our sponsors – those who have helped put on this summit: Exxon, Merck, MCJ, phRMA, and the Starkey Hearing Foundation. We appreciate your generosity and effort in making this possible.

I want to thank my pals Eric Bing and Mark Dybul, for helping be the architects in what we’re about to describe.

I want to welcome our daughter Barbara, who is a social entrepreneur. She runs Global Health Corps, and 14 of her as she puts it “amazing fellows” are with us today, we welcome you and thank you for coming. (Applause.)

And I appreciate my dear wife Laura. One time I’m giving a speech, I said she was the greatest first lady ever. And then I realized my mother was in the audience. (Laughter.) And I know – First Lady Clinton is in the audience, too. (Laughter.)

Like the Secretary, Laura understands this important principle: that when women are empowered, societies transform for the better. No better way to help transform society than freeing women from the worries and concerns about disease. It’s really the part of the spirit behind the Malaria Initiative and PEPFAR. The Malaria Initiative worked. In 43 countries, the incidence of the malaria disease has been reduced by 50% in a brief period of time (applause), in other words this is a project that thanks to private and public sector, folks, worked.

And as far as HIV/AIDS, I hope the American people understand that due to their generosity, 6.6 million people now receive life-saving medicine. 6.6 million people who would be dead now live. Thanks to an effort funded by the American people as well as the Global Fund.

What’s interesting is that 114,000 children were born without HIV even though their mothers were HIV positive. Societies are transformed when moms are able to deliver babies disease-free. There’s been a lot of progress made. A lot of people can take great pride in the successes to date. But there’s a lot of problems that remain.

And one such problem is cervical cancer.

Turns out many women who seek AIDS services face the challenge of cervical cancer. It is not enough to save a woman from AIDS and have die of cervical cancer. It is unacceptable. (Applause.)

And so we at the Bush Center, along with PEPFAR, UNAIDS, and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation are launching what’s called a Pink Ribbon, Red Ribbon campaign. The initiative will combat cervical and breast cancer in the developing world. We will set clear goals. We will measure. And we will be able to report back to you how many lives have been saved. Which we believe will be substantial. (Applause.)

What makes sense about this initiative is that we’ll start by using the PEPFAR clinics to screen and treat cervical cancer. In other words, there’s an infrastructure in place. That’s why the Secretary’s contribution is so significant. We’re going to add additional service. Part of our job is to raise the money, help train, and help educate people as to the new services available.

To this end, we are delighted, and we thank, the companies who have lent their hearts – as well as their wallets – to this important initiative. Merck, Beckton Dickenson, Qiagen, the Caris Foundation, the Caris Life Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squib, GlaxoSmithKline, and IBM. I thank you for what you’re doing. I assure you that we are bottom line people as well. I can give you all the confidence in the world. Our mission is to focus on achievable results. And you’ll be able to report back to your shareholders, or your bosses, that in fact, because of your generosity, thousands of lives have been saved.

And so here is the challenge. That is that in some parts of the world, and in some parts of our country, people are asking: “is it worth it? Does it matter if we save a life on the continent of Africa? We have our problems here at home,” they say.

This is isolationism which is dangerous. It’s dangerous because one of the lessons of September 11 is that what happens overseas matters here at home. When there is hopelessness, it affects the security of the United States of America. We face an enemy that can only recruit when they find hopeless people. And there is nothing more hopeless to a child who loses a mom or dad to AIDS to watch the wealthy nations of the world sit back and do nothing.

It is in our moral interests as a nation that we help deal with disease. We are a better country when we live by the admonition, “to whom much is given, much is required.” I am honored to be in the room with people who understand that call.

We thank you for your support. We assure you that our effort will be 100%. And I feel very confident that when we report back, thousands of lives will be saved for the good of mankind.

God bless you.

(Applause.)