Description

The Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau, Civil Hospital Karachi was founded in 1898 in the wake of a third pandemic of Bubonic Plague on the one hand, and the platinum jubilee of Queen Victoria on the other. The pandemic would kill at least an estimated 10 million people in India alone over a period of 20 years. It is important to mention the status of Karachi at that time. Being the port city, Karachi was the business, military and nerve center of Sindh right from the start. Towards the close of the nineteenth century, Karachi emerged as the cleanest city towards this side of the Suez Canal, with an estimated population of 105,000 which continued to grow in view of its strategic importance. Lord Curzon the Viceroy of India visited Civil Hospital Karachi in 1900 and unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the platinum jubilee of Queen Victoria.