路得·普福1929—2017

生平

1929年出生在德国莱比锡，路得·普福是德国出生的巴基斯坦人道主义者, 她有五个姐妹和一个弟弟。当第二战世界大战结束后，苏联军队占领德意志民主共和国, 她同她家人逃到德意志联邦共和国，并选择医药为她未来的职业生涯。1949年时路得·普福在在美茵茨读医学，但她感觉她自己的生活不够满足。1962年时，路得·普福加入了一间宗教秩序到印度，但因签证问题，她停留在巴基斯坦。她来到卡拉奇并视察了火车站背后之痳疯病患者聚居地位于麦克里奥德路。在那边路得·普福决心把她终生用来照顾那些病人。她开始给痳疯病患者在贫民区小屋接受治疗。因此“玛丽·阿德莱德·麻风病中心” 的痳疯病患者社会组织机构被创建，1963年四月买了一间麻风病诊所，然而患者从卡拉奇、巴基斯坦及阿富汗都来接受治疗。

自那时以来工作增长迅速, 小治疗中心在卡拉奇与巴基斯坦各个地区成立，医务工作者和社会工作者培训被提供，健康教育渐渐克服了任何传统的妨碍或恐惧。

路得·普福有时到巴基斯坦遥远地区, 那里经常没有痳疯病患者的医疗设施，所以她经常收集德国和巴基斯坦捐款并与拉瓦尔品第和卡拉奇医院合作。她在巴基斯坦和国外被确认为一个杰出的人，并已获得了许多奖项和奖章。

奖章

1969年 - 德国荣誉勋章

1969年 - 巴基斯坦勋章“Sitara i Quaid i Azam”.

2002年 - 拉蒙·麦格塞塞奖

2003年四月被授予“真纳奖”.

Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, FCM (Urdu: رتھ فاؤ; 9 September 1929 – 10 August 2017) was a German–Pakistani Catholic religious sister and physician who was a member of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary. She emigrated from Germany in 1961 and devoted more than 55 years of her life to fighting leprosy in Pakistan. Pfau was honoured with Hilal-e-Pakistan, Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Nishan-i-Quaid-i-Azam, and the Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam awards.

Pfau contributed to the establishment of 157 leprosy clinics across Pakistan that treated over 56,780 people. Fazaia Ruth Pfau Medical College and Dr. Ruth Pfau Hospital are named after her in Karachi. She died in August 2017 and was buried with full state honours.

Early life

Pfau was born on 9 September 1929 in Leipzig, Germany, to Lutheran Christian parents. She had four sisters and one brother. Her home was destroyed by bombing during World War II. Following the post-war Soviet occupation of East Germany she moved to West Germany along with her family, and chose medicine as her future career. During the 1950s, she studied medicine at the University of Mainz. During this period Pfau frequently met a Dutch Christian woman who was a concentration camp survivor and was dedicating her life to "preaching love and forgiveness".

Life in Pakistan

Not all of us can prevent a war; but most of us can help ease sufferings—of the body and the soul.

In 1960, aged 31, Pfau decided to dedicate the rest of her life to the people of Pakistan and their battle against leprosy outbreaks. While in Karachi, by chance she visited the Lepers' Colony behind McLeod Road (now I. I. Chundrigar Road) near the City Railway Station. Here she decided that the care of patients would be her life's calling. She started medical treatment for the leprosy patients in a hut in this area.

Death

In the early morning on 10 August 2017, around 4:00 AM PKT, Pfau died at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi after being admitted there due to respiratory problems on 4 August 2017. She was put on a ventilator after her condition worsened on 6 August. She refused life support, which her doctors removed the next day, according to her wish for "living a natural life". Pfau had been dealing with several health problems due to her advanced age, including kidney and heart disease, for which she had been undergoing treatment for several years.

Reaction

President Mamnoon Hussain issued the statement: "Dr Pfau’s services to end leprosy in Pakistan cannot be forgotten. She left her homeland and made Pakistan her home to serve humanity.

Legacy

Pfau is well respected by Muslims in Pakistan who were the majority of patients at the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre. Saleem Maseh Amir says that she never talked about religion, yet "her faith, service, and love" were demonstrations of the spirit that inspired inter-religious dialogue.

In 2018, Pfau's private residence in Karachi was converted into a museum to showcase some of her personal possessions.

Awards and recognition

Pfau is remembered in Pakistan and abroad as a distinguished human being, and had been awarded many awards and medals. On 23 March 1989, Pfau received the Hilal-i-Pakistan award presented by the then-President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan at the President House for her work with leprosy patients.

Speaking at a function in Islamabad on 30 January 2000 to mark the 47th World Leprosy Day, the then-President Rafiq Tarar praised Pfau, who built up the National Leprosy Control Program in Pakistan, for working not only for those afflicted with leprosy but also for those with tuberculosis. In 2006, Pfau was honoured as the 'Woman of the Year 2006' by City FM89.

Honours

• 1969: Order of Merit (Germany)
• 1969: Sitara i Quaid i Azam
• 1979: Hilal-e-Imtiaz
• 1989: Hilal-i-Pakistan
• 2002: Ramon Magsaysay Award
• 2003: Jinnah Award from the Jinnah Society

2004: Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa. Aga Khan University, Karachi.

2010: Nishan-i-Quaid-i-Azam for public service.

2017: Civil Hospital, Karachi renamed to Dr Ruth K.M. Pfau Hospital

The Pakistan Mint will issue 50,000 commemorative coins in honor of Dr Pfau.