Karachi (Fides Service) - If leprosy in Pakistan today has been eliminated it is also thanks to Sister Dr Ruth Pfau, a German missionary of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, who recently received the Ali Jinnah award named after the Father of Pakistan. The award was presented to the Catholic nun, who is a medical doctor, for her lifelong "service to ailing humanity, and for the dedication and passion with which she worked to make the country a safer and better place to live in".
The award was presented to Sr. Ruth in Karachi on April 11, by Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh a sitting member of the Senate on behalf of the Jinnah Society. At the award ceremony Sr. Ruth said that Pakistan was on the road to "total elimination of leprosy", a fact recognised as early as 1996 by the World Health Organisation. Pakistan was then cited as the first country in Asia to bring leprosy under control. Sr. Ruth recalled the work of leprosy programme workers whose dedication and single-mindedness results in the disease's control. She also recalled the ideals of the nation's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah who had a vision of progressive and liberal Pakistan.
Sr. Ruth, who has been decorated more than a dozen times by the Pakistani government, announced that with the prize money she intends to create a fund for the elderly parents, often very needy, of all those workers who dedicate their life to the anti-leprosy programme in Pakistan. PA (Fides Service 15/4/2003 EM lines 23 Words: 278)