Our initiative at SIUT to establish the country’s first bioethics centre was a leap of faith. I am delighted to see that it has not only flourished, but has contributed meaningfully to the development of this neglected interdisciplinary field in the country.

My interactions with Dr. Farhat Moazam during her doctoral research in 2002 convinced me she should lead SIUT’s first bioethics center. The Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC) at SIUT has since made significant progress, enhancing ethics capacity nationwide through educational events. Since establishing Pakistan’s organ transplant program, SIUT has strived to ensure ethical practices, with CBEC advancing this mission through research and education.

In line with our ethos and policies in SIUT, we offer free medical treatment and free education to those we serve. CBEC therefore offers free postgraduate education in bioethics to all those who are selected in their programs. Additionally, the Centre also conducts free of cost workshops for national institutions and helps them to establish ethics committees. Looking ahead, I hope CBEC can enhance its impact in Pakistan, especially in clinical ethics, supported by its growing alumni network. SIUT resources will always be there for CBEC to further its mission.

I have been closely involved in the evolution of CBEC-SIUT since 2004, when I was given the role of SIUT coordinator for the Centre. The initial years were a challenge in integrating CBEC activities with SIUT, a solely healthcare provider institution. However, my role as a bridge between the two proved to be very rewarding. Over the past two decades, I have seen with pleasure CBEC attaining national and international prominence.

SIUT was the first institution in Pakistan to commit resources to foster bioethics by financing CBEC, and its academic programs. The Centre has utilized these resources effectively to provide an academic platform for bioethics in Pakistan. I hope to see CBEC maintain the high standards that it has set as it moves into its third decade and beyond.

Since 1992, the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) organizes a biennial World Congress of Bioethics (WCB) in different countries. This provides a global forum for exchange of ideas and networking between those involved in education and research in bioethics and related fields.

This year, the 14th WCB was hosted by Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) at the Hammad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar. The conference theme was “Religion, Culture, and Global Bioethics.” One of the main organizers and the Chairperson of the WCB, was Dr. Mohammad Ghaly, Professor at CILE.

The 2024 conference marked a historic occasion as it was the first time the WCB was held in the Middle East, and in a Muslim Arab country. This IAB decision in 2022 sparked a debate among bioethicists globally with concerns raised about Qatar’s human rights record and its stance on certain bioethical issues including laws related to the LGBTQ community. Many however, defended the choice, arguing that the conference’s location in Qatar would foster engagement with a cultural­ ly diverse audience from Asian and African countries.

The Doha WCB was widely attended, providing a vibrant platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration. A notable characteristic of the conference was an effort to bring religion into the bioethical discourse. There were rich discussions on ethics of research on the genome and concerns associated with artifical intelligence technologies.

During the conference, CBEC faculty was actively involved in workshops, panel discussions, and oral presentations. Dr. Moazam also delivered a keynote address titled “Doing Bioethics in Pakistan,” where she used local case studies to illustrate the sociocultural nuanc­ es and ethical challenges in Pakistani clinical practice.