Recognizing May 2024 as ALS Awareness Month in the City of Philadelphia.

Recognizing May 2024 as ALS Awareness Month in the City of Philadelphia. WHEREAS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“ALS”), known to many as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disease in which a person’s brain loses connection with the muscles, slowly taking away their ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually, breathe; and WHEREAS, Every 90 minutes, a person in the United States is diagnosed with ALS and another person passes away from it; and WHEREAS, On average, patients diagnosed with ALS only survive another two to five years from the point of their diagnoses; and WHEREAS, ALS has no cure; and WHEREAS, For reasons that remain unknown, military veterans develop ALS at a higher rate than those who have not served, with some studies finding that the relative risk of dying from ALS for veterans was approximately two times that seen among non-veterans; and WHEREAS, Securing access to new therapies, durable medical equipment, and communication technologies is of vital importance to people living with ALS; and WHEREAS, Clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life, and developing assistive technologies for those living with ALS; and WHEREAS, It is the 10th anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge - perhaps the most viral and successful disease awareness and advocacy campaign of the internet era, and as we celebrate, we renew our commitment to galvanizing public awareness and fundraising to support ALS resear…