"With great concern we have got the sad massage of the death of Dr Ruth Pfau. She was a devoted Christian nun and a member of the society of Daughters of the Heart of Mary. We are losing with her an important symbol of the German Pakistan friendship. Her services will never be forgotten."

Dr Ruth Pfau had been living in Pakistan since 1960. She decided to stay in Pakistan seeing the suffering of leprosy patients and spent more than 50 years to fight leprosy.

With her efforts the WHO could declared, in 1996, Pakistan one of the first countries in Asia to have controlled leprosy. She had several Awards of Pakistan and Germany.