Press Releases

February 21, 2006 - Leonard Wood Memorial Joins Forces With American Leprosy Missions To End Suffering From Leprosy

Racky's earlobes are thick and puffy, infiltrated with leprosy bacilli. He is receiving care at a Cebu clinic supported by LWM and American Leprosy Missions.

The Leonard Wood Memorial/American Leprosy Foundation, a scientific research and training non-profit, formerly in Rockville, MD has announced plans to affiliate with the American Leprosy Missions (ALM) in Greenville and move its international headquarters to the Upstate.

ALM President, Christopher J. Doyle will serve as president of both organizations.

“Individually, we each have a wonderful legacy of aiding suffering people through treatment and research. Together, we dream of changing the world of leprosy and its victims in unprecedented ways,” says Doyle. “LWM’s science and ALM’s ministry create an awesome force in the campaign to end leprosy forever.”

LWM has operated a research laboratory on the island of Cebu in the Philippines since 1928. They’ve also provided training and treatment at the Cebu Skin Clinic which diagnoses another new case of leprosy almost daily and whose patient care has been funded by ALM donors for decades. LMW is also involved in research to discover a vaccine for both leprosy and TB.

American Leprosy Missions celebrates its 100^th anniversary in 2006. ALM has been working in the Philippines since 1908.

Says Doyle, “the Cebu Clinic”, along with the state of the art LWM Research Center, are poised to become one of the world’s most significant care centers for impoverished and leprosy-affected families…taking the compassionate care that has always characterized their operations to an even higher level of medical excellence.”

Doctor at LWM clinic teaches patients how to take multidrug therapy (MDT) to cure leprosy.

With combined budgets of almost $9 million ALM and LWM will make a significant impact on leprosy and TB, work that will eventually save millions of lives and prevents heartbreak and suffering for countless others.

Leonard Wood Memorial offices will be located in the ALM building at 120 Broadus Avenue. For more information or to make a donation, call LWM tollfree, 1-877-241-1736 or email: lwm@leprosy.org. You can also donate to the work of Leonard Wood Memorial online.