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Dear Colleagues,

Where we are now, in June 2020, reams have been written about COVID-19 - but the effects of the pandemic are still unfolding. We have yet to fully understand its long term impact on the social structures within which we are embedded but the changes in our patterns of interaction and communication are likely to linger. Among the initial fallouts has been our inability to bring out the printed edition of Bioethics Links; for the first time, our newsletter is available solely in a virtual format. Ms. Anika Khan took the lead in this laborious and oft-times frustrating task. We would also like to thank Mr. Aamir Shehzad, CBEC IT Officer, who made this virtual version a reality.

This special edition of Bioethics Links tries to capture the impact of the pandemic on the lives and work of CBEC’s faculty, colleagues, alumni and students through their narratives. It covers the Centre’s activities during the last few months, including the development of CBEC’s COVID-19 guidelines for ethical healthcare decision-making in Pakistan and publications by CBEC faculty on ethical issues surrounding the pandemic. It also includes a brief overview of public outreach activities, along with selected narratives from the general public. We are particularly delighted to include submissions from national and international friends who have shared their perspectives through insightful contributions, ranging from haikus to reflections on ‘quarantine’ and justice.

We received many submissions for this edition, particularly from alumni and students, and it was hard to select from among so many reflective and heartfelt narratives. We have tried to accommodate all of them through selected excerpts from their stories.

We welcome comments on this edition and hope that within these narratives, our readers will find thoughts and experiences that they can relate to. Our June 2020 newsletter includes links to CBEC’s webpage and to our newsletter archives - we do hope you will find time to visit these links.


Farhat Moazam, MD, PhD
Professor and Chairperson
Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture, SIUT


 

"Stay home" - Ghazal Shahid, 2020



         COVID-19: CBEC Activities

"Social Distances" - Ghazal Shahid, 2020

 

 

Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation
7th Floor, Transplant Tower, Yaqoob Khan Road, Near Civil Hospital, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Phone: (92 21) 9921 6957
Email: cbec.siut@gmail.com
www.siut.org/bioethics