KARACHI, Jan 27: The Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre has successfully controlled Leprosy in the country and is now focusing on checking tuberculosis and eye ailments.

“With sincere efforts and dedicated teamwork, these too will be controlled soon,” said MALC’s Dr Ruth Pfau.

Speaking at the World Leprosy Day function, organized by the MALC on Friday, the 76-year-old German doctor, Dr Pfau, who had been associated with the organization since 1960, and was appointed Adviser to the Federal Government on Leprosy, also announced her retirement. She said the MALC Chief, Dr Ashfaq Ali Khan, was now the federal government adviser on leprosy.

Besides Dr Ruth Pfau, Dr Ashfaq, Dr Muthahir Zia, Ali Murtaza, Dr Rubina Mirza, Shamim Iqbal, Gopal Ghanghri, Erum Shaheen, Imran Khan and others also spoke.

After the speeches, a visually impaired and cured leprosy patient, Zakir Hussain alias Bacha Nabina, and Zulfiqar Ali enthralled the audience with their beautiful songs.

They said the World Leprosy Day was observed to express solidarity with leprosy-affected people and to draw the attention of the international community to come to the help of leprosy victims and to revolt against the cruel and tragic fate reserved for the victims.

They said the MALC, which was started some 50 years back in 1956 by a few Mexican nuns – one of whom Sister Berenice Vargus died a few weeks back – was celebrating its golden jubilee this year.

The MALC has been receiving almost 70 per cent of its budget as donation from the German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA).

Speakers on the occasion said the registered number of leprosy patients in the country until Jan 1, 2006 was over 52,450, and a majority of them had been cured.

Some new cases are detected, but as the occurrence of the disease is less than 1 in 10,000 per population, therefore, according to international standards, the disease has been controlled, though not eliminated, from the country.

They urged the masses not to discriminate against cured leprosy patients as it was not a threat to anyone. People were also asked to either report or bring new patients to the MALC or over 150 of its clinics working all over the country if they had any information.

They said 32 out of 36 MALC centres were destroyed due to the earthquake in the AJK and the NWFP. The MALC team headed by Dr Pfau had reached Muzaffarabad within 48 hours of the tragedy and all these centres were reopened within 10 days in tents, and four in containers.

They said with assistance from international donors — the German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA), Misserior, Caritas Austria, CBM Germany, Maria Laach and others — a three-pronged relief and rehabilitation operation was being carried out in the quake-hit areas.

They also thanked the Paris-based Church organization, Daughters of Heart of Mary, which had sent Mother Doyle, Sister Vargas, Dr Ruth Pfau, Sister Jeannine and others here, who started the fight against leprosy and had controlled it in the country. Earlier, homage was paid to the late Sister Vargas by observing a minute’s silence.

Shields were also given to staff members – Wasanti Devji, Imtiaz Khokhar, Abdul Samad Baloch, Vino Gopal, Philip, and Anita Ramjee, who received the shield on behalf of her late father for being associated with the MALC for 25 years.