Professionals do not operate in a vacuum. The awareness of, and respect for, professional ethics are social issues par excellence. They reflect the prevailing socio-economic and political conditions, as well as the state of the profession itself.

In Egypt, issues of professional ethics are colored by the facts of poverty, illiteracy, and absence of democratic freedoms. Being unaware of its rights, the illiterate majority is a potential victim of abuse and malpractice. The lack of free press and liberal rights make it difficult to expose violations of professional ethics. To this one must add the paucity of professionals, especially in rural areas. A peasant in Egypt does not have much choice in selecting his doctor, since there is likely only one doctor in the village.

Professional ethics is the concern of the urban, educated middle-class.

Professionals in Egypt have traditions dating from the late nineteenth century. Modern professional associations developed and became defined as the number of professionals in the country increased. Every association in Egypt has its code of ethics. For instance, the 19831aw reorganizing the legal profession includes a long list of ethical duties and obligations. Article 62 refers to the principles of honor and integrity. Article 64 obligates the lawyer to help the needy and those who cannot pay. Article 65 prevents the lawyer from using any information acquired during a case for objectives other than that case. The medical syndicate has its own code of ethics issued by the Ministry of Health in 1974. Article 7, for example, prevents medical doctors from lending their names for any commercial purpose and from engaging in any propaganda for themselves.

There is a wide gap, however, between theory and practice. Due to the general 'developing" situation and the political clout of professional associations, most of these obligations are theoretical, left to the conscience of each doctor or lawyer to implement. For instance, when an Egyptian goes to a doctor or a lawyer, he pays in cash and receives no receipt. A patient cannot prove the amount paid to a doctor, nor is the government able to calculate the doctor's income for tax purposes. In the 1970's, a number of 'investment hospitals" were established in Cairo to address the needs of wealthy Gulf Arabs. Such a hospital is usually owned, entirely or partially, by the doctors working in it.

Finally, malpractice is seldom an issue. In medicine, for example, death is generally accepted as God's will. Few patients have the ability to determine whether malpractice was involved or not.

In Egypt, and other Islamic countries, professional ethics must be understood in the light of resurgent Islamic movements. For instance, it is almost impossible for a Muslim to accept the notion that a doctor may help a patient to end his life even in cases of terminal disease and terrible pain. Such behavior violates Muslim belief that God is the ultimate deliverer of life and death.