Editorial: Medical Ethics: A slow but sustained revolution in Pakistan’s healthcare

Change is the Measure of Time: A few decades ago, it was considered unthinkable to accept a physician s deliberate action to hasten his/her patient s demise. Today, it is not only legal in parts of the world, but also considered a morally and ethically sound method of ending human life (assisted suicide and euthanasia). The strong winds of change in contemporary bioethics, often arising from technically developed Western European and North American regions, eventually bring their effects on under-developed countries like Pakistan. Although, the rich and heavily bonding cultures augmented by strong religious beliefs, in a family oriented hierarchical society like ours, provide much resistance to any change in general thinking patterns, change is nonetheless, inevitable.