HOW IT ALL STARTED FOR ME

The idea that led to the germination of the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture at SIUT began as an informal discussion over coffee in the spring of 2003 in Virginia, USA. Having put my surgical career on hold for pursuing a fellowship in International Research Ethics at the Harvard School of Public Health while Dr. Moazam was writing her dissertation for her PhD in Religious Studies with a focus on cross-cultural bioethics at the University of Virginia (UVA). She mentioned in her emails to me about Dr. Adib Rizvi’s desire to have a centre for bioethics at SIUT.

As we sat there on the bench, we envisioned that the centre would offer academic courses in bioethics relevant for the country. How we would do this, was not clear to us at that time. As it happened, Dr. Rizvi was attending a transplant conference in Boston and asked Dr. Moazam to fly over to meet him there to take the discussion forward. Over lunch of daal chawal [lentil curry with rice] and other desi dishes in a food court, we discussed the establishment of Pakistan’s first bioethics centre. Not interested in details of how and what, Dr. Rizvi simply said, “shuroo karo [Just start it].”

I joined SIUT in June 2004, as a part-time faculty of the centre, continuing my work as a general surgeon at the Aga Khan University. Dr. Moazam was still in the US finishing her thesis. We communicated through daily, lengthy emails in which we set about planning what the Centre would do.

The Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture was inaugurated on October 8, 2004, for which Dr Moazam flew back to Karachi. She formally joined the centre full-time in early 2005. Our first academic venture was the conference, “The Evolution of Moral Thought: From Greeks to Contemporary Bioethics” held in April 2005. The interest of the public took us by surprise indicating a genuine interest in bioethics in a more formal fashion.

In order to develop an academic program, we conducted a needs assessment survey targeting medical university hierarchy. Our findings indicated a widespread interest in the subject. However, busy healthcare professionals did not appear to be keen on full-time enrollment. This was reasonable since a degree in bioethics at that time would not have secured employment or advanced careers in existing fields. Realizing this, we devised our Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in Biomedical Ethics, initiated in 2006, as a blended one, with four on-campus modules and asynchronous distance learning between the contact sessions.

Twenty years on, as I reflect, it is amazing how a faculty of 1.5 and a staff of one, managed to do so much. In the year 2005  alone,  we  were  involved  in  41  events  including workshops in Karachi and elsewhere, international conferences, Socratic Hours, Ethics and Culture Hour, and clinical ethics rounds at SIUT.

Similarly, in 2006, when we launched the PGD program, we were involved in 40 different events, both nationally and internationally. Now in 2024, with more faculty and 3 full-time staff members, while we are much better placed as far as hands on deck are concerned, we continue to be stretched thin.

Our portfolio of work has increased severalfold over the years. Since 2017, as a WHO Collaborating Centre of Bioethics, CBEC contributing to WHO-directed projects and missions. In collaboration with Kenya Medical Research Centre (KEMRI), in 2017, we initiated the CBEC-KEMRI Bioethics Training Initiative (CK-BTI), funded by Fogarty International Centre of the National Institutes of Health USA. This program is now in its 7^th year and second funding cycle

We have managed to maintain our standards as we have expanded our canvas. However, one centre can do only so much. Our alumni are expected to carry the flame further as we continue to offer our academic programs, broadening the scope of what we do in order to meet the requirements of changing times.