news and media: news archives 2006
February, 2006
ALM receives a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Greenville-based American Leprosy Missions (ALM) recently received a $100,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. ALM is the oldest and largest non-profit agency in the United States devoted to the care and treatment of leprosy worldwide.
Hotel entrepreneur Conrad Hilton established the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 1944. The Foundation and its related entities have total assets of $2.4 billion and have distributed in excess of $440 million for charitable projects throughout the world.
During the early 1980s, ALM became one of the first agencies to use the new multi-drug therapy (MDT) in its projects to cure leprosy. In celebration of its 2006 centennial, ALM is engaged in a campaign to finance research into the development of a leprosy vaccine.
Today, at least three million people in the world have active cases of leprosy or are affected with leprosy-related disabilities and deformities. On average it costs $300 to provide a complete cure, medical treatment and rehabilitation, for one person with leprosy. ALM project partners find and diagnose leprosy, provide medical treatment, and restore lives so that leprosy-affected families can contribute to their own livelihoods and the livelihoods of their communities.
