Scientology Volunteer Ministers Gift Children’s Hospital Staff in Honor of Semmelweis Day

Though scorned in his lifetime for his revolutionary theories, Hungarian physician and scientist Ignaz Semmelweis has since become known as the “savior of mothers.”

To show their appreciation for Budapest Children’s Hospital nurses and staff, Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Budapest surprised them with gifts of cosmetics and grooming products on Semmelweis Day, celebrated each year in Hungary as a national holiday for healthcare providers. 

Born July 1, 1818, Hungarian physician and scientist Ignaz (Ignác) Semmelweis dramatically reduced the mortality rate of new mothers in maternity wards by insisting doctors sanitize their hands between caring for patients. He did this nearly 20 years before Pasteur’s experiments confirmed the relationship between germs and disease. Though scorned by his peers in his lifetime, his contribution to medicine has since been vindicated. 

In fact, what Semmelweis observed and implemented 174 years ago has been the backbone of the international effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic—the adoption of prevention protocols.

“Semmelweis was the savior of mothers,” said the lead Scientology Volunteer Minister in a Facebook post. “His birthday is a great opportunity to celebrate health workers who save lives every day.” 

Since the pandemic began, Hungarian Scientology Volunteer Ministers, in coordination with other nonprofits and community groups, have been carrying out projects to help essential workers and those in need.

They also handed out thousands of educational booklets explaining the very discovery that Semmelweis implemented to save lives more than two centuries ago. These booklets are available in 21 languages including Hungarian on the Stay Well Prevention Resource Center on the Scientology website along with brief videos that illustrate these basic prevention protocols.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Hungary headquarters is the Church of Scientology Budapest, whose new home was dedicated in 2016 by Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion.

The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers program is a religious social service created in the mid-1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.

A Volunteer Minister’s mandate is to be “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” Their creed: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”

For more information, visit the new interactive timeline on the Scientology website, 20/21: A Look Back & A Look Ahead.