Role: Physician, Nun, Leprosy Fighter
Date of Birth: September 9, 1929
Date of Death: February 10, 2017
Dr. Ruth Pfau was a German-Pakistani physician and nun who devoted over 50 years of her life to eradicating leprosy in Pakistan. Arriving in Karachi in the 1960s, she transformed a small shack into the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre, eventually establishing a nationwide network of clinics that treated over 150,000 patients. Known as Pakistan’s Mother Teresa, her monumental healthcare reforms and social advocacy successfully brought leprosy under control, saving countless individuals from physical deformity and social stigma.
