Happy Birthday CBEC

It is ten years since I served as a member of the External Review team for the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture, and I am delighted to write a few words of appreciation for this remarkable bioethics centre as it reaches its 20th anniversary. Before my retirement in 2016, I had the privilege of founding three biomedical centres in New Zealand, England and Singapore, and I also served as President of the International Association of Bioethics (IAB) and as the Chair of two Bioethics World Congresses, in London and in Singapore. On the basis of this experience, I can say unhesitatingly that CBEC stands out as one of the world’s leading centres in the field, this distinction being underlined by its recognition as a WHO Collaborating Centre.

Let me first note the important distinctiveness in its title: ‘Biomedical Ethics and Culture.’ This very explicit reference to cultural influences in bioethics is hugely important, given the dominance of Western cultural values in the academic literature, and it has particular resonance in Pakistan, which was founded as an Islamic state. The direct way in which CBEC has dealt with this is through its excellent series of teaching videos, which engage fully in religious and cultural issues in Pakistan, yet also remain a relevant resource in other cultural and religious settings.

The Centre received high praise from the 2014 External Review team, but their Report also noted that the wide range of CBEC’s commitments – Master’s, Diploma and Certificate courses, plus training and support meetings throughout Pakistan – could not realistically be sustained with its current academic and support staff and its very limited accommodation. These concerns have been addressed and it is heartening to note that there are now four full-time faculty, as well as a range of associated faculty, full-time additional support staff and a full floor in a new building. However, I remain concerned about the continuing pressure on senior staff, especially as the Centre continues to expand – a victim of its own success! While study leave has been authorised by the host institution, this has not yet been fully taken up, which leads to a real risk of burnout. I trust that in the near future all full-time teaching staff will take the opportunity of the academic refreshment that sabbatical leave provides.

Another great achievement of the Centre in its second decade has been an increased international profile. The faculty continues to foster international links through membership of international committees and numerous publications in bioethics and other journals. An impressive new international collaboration results from a Fogarty grant enabling CBEC to partner with the Kenyan Medical Research Institute to set up certificate programs and initiate a Master’s program in Kenya. This outreach is one more testimony to the high status that the Centre has achieved.

In conclusion, I would like to add a personal note. My association with CBEC over many years has greatly enriched my own understanding of bioethics, most especially the challenges we face in an increasingly multicultural (but often very conflict-ridden) world. As the Editorial in the latest Journal of Medical Ethics strongly argues, we isolate bioethics from political and social issues at our peril.1 CBEC has shown me how the social context of bioethics is a core aspect of the discipline. But more than that, now that I am fully retired, I treasure even more the enduring friendships with Farhat Moazam and with Aamir Jafarey I have gained over the years. Collaboration and friendship across professional, generational and national boundaries are sure ways of fostering a bioethics that speaks truth to power and to give hope to the dispossessed.

Reference:

1. Shahvisi A. The ethical is political: Israel’s production of health scarcity in Gaza. Journal of Medical Ethics 2024;50:289-291.