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The study of medical ethics
is a relatively new field in Pakistan. At the "First Clinical Ethics Symposium
and Workshop" held at AKU on 13-14 December 2002, medical practitioners and
scholars deliberated on the various moral issues pertaining to medical treatment
and research. The emphasis was on resolving ethical challenges posed by the
advent of newer medical and reproductive technologies and the advances in life-supporting
systems.
In her welcome
address, Dr. Rehana Kamal, Chair of the Hospital Ethics Committee
and Professor, Department of Anaesthesia, AKU, said that this Symposium
was the first of its kind in Pakistan but assured that more will
be arranged in the future. Dr. Farhat Moazzam, Bioethicists from
University of Virginia and former Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical
Education, AKU, in her scholarly lecture titled, 'In Search of a
More Humanistic Medicine: From Individualistic Ethics to Relational
Morality', spoke of bioethics as a response to the novel dilemmas
emerging from advancement in medicine and biomedical technology.
Conflicts between society and individuals can also cause ethical
dilemmas. Dr. Moazzam explained this phenomenon with reference to
'individual ethics' and 'relational morality'. She examined the
influence of individualistic culture (a society whereby the autonomy
of individuals takes the centre stage) as opposed to collective
cultures (a society in which group identity supersedes individual
identity) on common morality, and traced the development of individual
ethics from Sophist philosophy to present day Protestant ethics.
She stressed that culture influences morality, and argued against
a culturally myopic vision of ethics in medicine with a hegemonic
insistence on a common morality for all.
Professor Ezzaddine Ibrahim,
former Chancellor, UAE University and Advisor to President of UAE, in his lecture
'Basic Islamic Teaching and Ethics Relating to Medical Science' considered Islam's
position with respect to medical ethics. According to Professor Ibrahim seeking
good health and medical treatment when needed, is an Islamic obligation. He
said that Islam allows for an acquaintance with and borrowing from systems of
treatment from all sources, gives conditional approval of invasive and surgical
procedures and sanctions spiritual approaches as complementary to medical treatment.
He further talked about the observance of Islamic ethical codes, and the declaration
of the Islamic Code, formulated in Kuwait in 1981. A presentation on 'Patient
Autonomy' was made by Kausar Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Community
Health Sciences, AKU, followed by 'Confidentiality in the Pakistani Context'
by Dr. Murad Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, AKU.
Questions concerning end
of life are an important concern of bioethics and Dr. Rehana Kamal addressed
these in her presentation titled 'End of Life Decision Making'. Dr. Asad Raja,
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, AKU, deliberated on the issue 'What
Constitutes an Ethical Dilemma', and Dr. Farhat Moazzam spoke on 'Patients as
Teaching Material'. The last presentation of the day was by Dr. Wasim Jafri,
Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, AKU, on the extremely relevant
topic 'Concerns of Ethics and Health Care Costs'. A workshop on clinical ethics
was conducted the following day, where the participants worked in small group
sessions on specific case scenarios.
The next bioethics
event is 'Question Time Ethics' and the topic debated will be 'Is
non-therapeutic abortion acceptable?' It will be held on 15 January
2002 at 8 A.M and is open to general public. Further information
on 'Question Time Ethics' can be obtained from the Section of Bioethics
at bioethics@aku.edu.
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