KARACHI: In recognition of Dr Ruth Pfau’s services, the Sindh government has changed the name of Civil Hospital of Karachi to Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi.

The hospital will be renamed with an immediate effect.

The notification in this regard has been issued following the announcement made by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah during her state funeral. Paying rich tribute to the late humanitarian, the chief minister said that she was a pride of Sindh and Pakistan.

Dr Pfau, Pakistan’s ‘Mother Teresa’, who dedicated a lifetime to fighting leprosy in the country, was laid to rest at Karachi’s Gora Qabristan with full state honours on Saturday.

Among the dignitaries who attended the burial of Pakistan’s humanitarian hero were President Mamnoon Hussain, Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, and the Sindh IGP and Karachi Corps Commander.

German-Pakistani national Dr Ruth breathed her last after a prolonged illness on August 10, 2017, at a private hospital in Karachi. She was 87.

She is only the second person to be accorded a state funeral in 29 years, with the last one offered for late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi in 2016.

Dr Ruth visited Pakistan in the 1960s and ended up staying, adopting Pakistan as her new home as she dedicated her life to taking care of leprosy patients.

It was due to her endless struggle that Pakistan defeated the disease and became leprosy-free in 1996.

She was granted Pakistani citizenship in 1988 and received numerous accolades for her services, including the country’s top civilian awards Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Pakistan.