Pfau, 87, died on August 10 at a hospital affiliated with her Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.
She was given a state funeral and her last rites were performed at St Patrick’s Cathedral where hundreds of people gathered to honour her.
Her coffin was draped in the Pakistani flag and covered with rose petals.
A 19-gun salute was observed in the presence of contingents from all three armed forces.
Pfau’s last rites and burial ceremony were broadcast live on national television.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohamed Asif said in a statement that Pfau will be remembered for her exceptional love, dedication and selflessness for the people of Pakistan.
“We have lost a national hero,” said a Foreign Office statement.
Samar Minallah, a human rights activist, said: “Pfau exemplified the best of humanity.
She was a ray of hope for Pakistan. A true patriot.”
Politicians, military officials and civilians paid tribute to her services and #DrRuthPfau was a top trend on Twitter in Pakistan.
Zafar Ali, who was treated for leprosy, told Geo TV that “Pfau treated me like a mother. She will always be remembered.”
Pfau was buried at Gora Qabaristan, the southern port city of Karachi’s oldest graveyard.
The burial ceremony was attended by many state dignitaries, including President Mamnoon Hussain, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Mohamed Zubair, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) Vice-Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, each of whom laid floral wreaths on her grave as a mark of respect.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had said the state funeral would honour Pfau for her “selfless and unmatched” services to Pakistan.
Members of civil society and hundreds of admirers also attended the service and paid tribute to Dr Pfau. After dignitaries departed, the graveyard was thronged by thousands of citizens whose lives she had touched.
Martha Fernando, who worked with Dr Pfau at MALC, said the physician’s death was a great loss to humanity.
“There is no one like her and there won’t be any replacement to her. We pray to God to send people like her again to this world so that they can continue serving people,” she said.
Following the state funeral, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah announced the
renaming of Civil Hospital Karachi after Dr Ruth Pfau.
“Dr Pfau was the pride of Sindh and the pride of Pakistan,” Shah said.
He directed the chief secretary to issue a notification regarding the change of the hospital’s name to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital.
State funerals are usually only given to soldiers killed in conflict and heads of state or government.
In 2016, Pakistan’s world renowned philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi was accorded a state funeral.
Pfau moved to Pakistan in 1960 and dedicated herself to treating leprosy patients across the country.
She was granted Pakistani citizenship in 1988.
In 1968, she persuaded the government to undertake a National Leprosy Control Programme and began setting up leprosy control centres across the country.
The Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre is the hub for 157 leprosy control centres, with more than 800 staff members, and has also started treating people suffering from tuberculosis.
Pfau was awarded the country’s highest civilian awards and was dubbed by the local media as “Pakistan’s Mother Teresa.”
It was because of her efforts that the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Pakistan one of the first countries in Asia to be free from leprosy in the late 1990s.
Pfau served as an adviser to the Pakistani government for the eradication of leprosy between 1975 and 1980.
