Description
2002 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service from Pakistan. Leprosy was considered a curse because of its power to deform the face and body. And leprosy sufferers were ostracized and driven to live apart from others, by themselves or in squalid colonies of untouchables. Dr. Ruth Pfau arrived in Pakistan in 1960 and began work at a one-hut leprosy dispensary in a Karachi slum. Over the next thirty years she built the dispensary into Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC), a modern hospital-cum-training center and the hub of a nationwide leprosy control program that has made Pakistan among the first Asian countries to control the disease, by the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Pfau, a Catholic nun, is now retired but continues her work through MALC, which today includes feeding and repatriating Afghan refugees adrift in Pakistan.
In electing Ruth Pfau to receive the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, the board of trustees recognizes her lifelong dedication to eradicate leprosy and its stigma in Pakistan, and other loving gifts to her adopted country.
Ruth Pfau's acceptance speech at the 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies held in Manila on 31 August 2002
Lecture paper of Dr. Ruth Pfau presented at the 2002 Magsaysay Awardees' Lecture Series in September 2002 in relation to her Magsaysay Award for Public Service
Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Ruth Pfau prior to her 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service
On February 19, 2010, famous and distinguished persons in Pakistan paid tribute to Dr. Ruth Pfau’s dedicated and untiring services to poor leprosy patients in a ceremony marking the 60 years of her struggle to eradicate the disease from the…
Official Biography of Dr. Ruth Pfau in relation to her Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 2002. The biography which was written by Dr. James Rush, formed part of the Book of Records of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
Articles and news detailing the simple yet meaningful and productive life of Dr. Ruth Pfau. In one articles, Zia Mutaher wrote “Ruth Pfau whose face has never known the tinge of make-up, whose frame has never donned a piece of jewel, and who has…
This book is basically a chronicle of reminiscences and reflections of Dr. Ruth Pfau while carrying out her professional duties. It is a moving and triumphant story of her search and discovery, of purpose and pursuit, of courage and sacrifice. It…
“Serving the Unserved: A Biography of Ruth Pfau” written by Dr. Zia Mutaher describes the amazing life of a German doctor, Ruth Pfau, who came to Pakistan and revolutionized the treatment of leprosy. It dwells on her tireless efforts and hard…
These Guidelines bring together a wealth of experience in one document. They are based on contributions from people involved in Social and Economic Rehabilitation and on the results of a workshop held in Wurzburg, Germany in June 1999. The…