Daily Times

The State Bank of Pakistan issued a Rs 50 coin to commemorate the memory of renowned humanitarian Dr Ruth Pfau.

The coin was inaugurated at an event held at the State Bank office in Karachi, State Bank Governor Tariq Bajwa and German Ambassador Martin Kobler were also present at the inauguration.

Speaking at the ceremony, Tariq Bajwa lauded Dr Ruth Pfau’s contributions, saying she dedicated her life for the people who suffered from leprosy and it was it for those efforts that helped the country control the disease.

Ambassador Martin Kobler also recognised Dr Pfau’s services on the occasion and thanked the State Bank of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan for the noble gesture.

The founder of the National Leprosy Control Programme in Pakistan, Dr Pfau passed away in August last year.

Dr Pfau dedicated her life to treating patients in Pakistan. She founded the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in Karachi and in all provinces of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan. She had treated over 50,000 families since the inception of the centre.

Dr Pfau had been living in Pakistan since 1960 and came to the country when she just 29. When she witnessed the suffering of the country’s leprosy patients she decided to stay here. She was a German nun and a member of the Society of Daughters of the Heart of Mary, who devoted the last 50 years of her life to fighting leprosy in Pakistan.

She had travelled to various parts of Pakistan to medically facilitate leprosy patients, a journey she said enjoyed tremendously because of the marked difference made in the lives of her patients.

With her efforts, in 1996, the World Health Organisation declared Pakistan one of the first countries in Asia to have controlled leprosy. She was awarded the Hilal-e-Pakistan in 1989 and Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 1979 by the government of Pakistan. Dr Pfau was also on the front line when Sindh was hit by floods in 2010.

In December 2015, Dr Pfau, was awarded the Staufer Medal at the German consulate.

Published in Daily Times, May 10^th 2018.