Google celebrates Ruth Pfau, 'Pakistan's Mother Teresa,' with 90th birthday doodle

Internet users visiting the world's most popular seach engine on Monday are able to see the doodle depicting the German-born nun and physician tending to a sick patient.

In 1960, at the age of 29, Pfau left her native Germany to live in Pakistan, where she would devote 55 years of her life to helping combat leprosy. During her time there, Pfau set up more than 150 clinics, including the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre, which have provided service for over 56,780 suffering from the debilitating disease.

She became a symbol of selflessness and had been hailed as Pakistan’s "Mother Teresa".

Dr Pfau also founded Pakistan's National Leprosy Control Program anda helped train doctors. 

Through her efforts, Dr Pfau became known in Pakistan for her dedication to helping those afflicted by Leprosy. This would lead many to compare her to Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who set up and run homes for the sick in neighbouring India.

The Google Doodle was released to commemorate Dr Ruth Pfau's 90th birthday [Google]

In 1996, the World Health Organisation declared Leprosy to be under control in Pakistan. Dr Pfau's work is widely recognised to have been instrumental in this.

Dr Pfau succumbed to resporitary illness in 2017 at the age of 87, after refusing a life support machine.

She died at a hospital in the southeastern Pakistani city of Karachi and was honoured with a state funeral.

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