Robert Ostergard | University of Nevada, Reno (original) (raw)

Books by Robert Ostergard

Though few would argue against the right to health care on moral grounds, we argue that the great... more Though few would argue against the right to health care on moral grounds, we argue that the greater problem has been over the feasibility of such an idea, especially where the “right to health” has never been clearly defined. We discuss a range of problems in balancing the two values: the right of a creator to protect their intellectual property and the right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health care. We argue that to strike a balance between these important values, all countries must work to develop policies that take into account the basic health and developmental interests of developing countries. We also argue that important changes must be made to the current IPR system, especially with respect to the production and pricing of basic goods and services needed to fulfill health subsistence rights. These changes must include allowing developing countries access to essential medicines that support the realization of basic health, welfare, and economic development. We examine an alternative patent compensation system that Pogge (2005a) has proposed. While we highlight the important aspects of this plan, we also argue that Pogge's scheme falls short in that it does not provide enough incentive to break the short-term profit perspective that corporations possess. We propose two amendments to address this issue in Pogge's scheme. We further argue that we need to replace the dominant state-centric paradigm that views the right to health care in strictly nationalistic terms (as simply problems of the state) with a more cosmopolitan paradigm that reflects the true nature of the relationship between IPR and human rights as a “global public good.”

Papers by Robert Ostergard

Journal of Human Rights, 2011

Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Mar 1, 2005

Third World Quarterly, Aug 1, 2001

Advances in modern biotechnology have provided researchers with tools that are now opening up new... more Advances in modern biotechnology have provided researchers with tools that are now opening up new avenues for consumer products and medicinal treatments. But the advances made in this industry are still dependent upon natural resources as the major components in solving some of the puzzles scientists are exploring. Biological extracts and specimens provide the needed resources for research on products, therapies and procedures that could assist people in their everyday lives or in their battles against disease. At the same time the research is also a windfall for the biotechnology companies themselves, because the potential exists for new products and procedures to generate billions of dollars in corporate revenues. As a result the trade in biological specimens has increased, with researchers continually seeking new sources of specimens. The goal of our research is to explore two fundamental questions related to the biotechnology industry: (1) what has been the driving force behind the relatively recent explosive growth in the biotechnology industry? and (2) what has been the impact on the developing

Routledge eBooks, Nov 6, 2021

The role of health intelligence (HI) has received little assessment in the West African Ebola out... more The role of health intelligence (HI) has received little assessment in the West African Ebola outbreak (2014-2016). Using newly declassified information on the outbreak, this research finds significant HI problems that hindered an appropriate response to the outbreak. The Guinean government's low capacity to deal with the crisis, the government's misleading assessments of the crisis, the US embassy's failure to contextualize the information properly in terms of the risks the virus posed, and the US embassy's willingness to accept the Guinean government's assessment without criticism were contributing factors in the HI failure in the opening months of the Ebola outbreak.

African Studies Review, Sep 1, 2003

This updated edition explores how the AIDS crisis has devastated the world's poorest contine... more This updated edition explores how the AIDS crisis has devastated the world's poorest continent, and shows how families, charities and governments are responding to the next wave of the crisis - millions of orphans. Based on interviews, Guest lets people tell their own ...

Journal of Modern African Studies, Jun 1, 2006

In the modern global economy, transnational corporations have become important sources of technol... more In the modern global economy, transnational corporations have become important sources of technology, market access and capital – all of which states seek in propelling economic growth. States themselves provide territory, and establish the ‘rules of the game’ by which corporations may operate within that territory. However, with the commodification and commercialisation of indigenous cultural and intellectual property, states are bypassed and negotiations emerge between corporations and sub-state actors who claim to represent population segments. May the bypassing of the state further weaken national or state identity among indigenous groups? Such is the case that may be emerging in Africa with groups who claim profits derived from the development and marketing of indigenous cultural and intellectual property. This paper explores the possibility that profit-sharing agreements between transnational corporations and sub-state groups may contribute to the widening of ethnic cleavages in African states by promoting inequalities between groups.

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Jan 6, 2023

Security Nexus, Nov 18, 2020

Routledge Handbook of Global Health Security, 2014

Third World Quarterly, 2001

Third World Quarterly, 2002

Traditional security studies and international relations theory do little to address the security... more Traditional security studies and international relations theory do little to address the security issues associated with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Because security studies and international relations have been preoccupied with conditions affecting the major powers, little of the long history of internationa l relations and national security has practical application to Africa and the HIV/ AIDS epidemic it is experiencing. From

Political Research Quarterly, 2002

Based on data from 18 Central and East European countries collected between 1991 and 1996, this a... more Based on data from 18 Central and East European countries collected between 1991 and 1996, this article tests informational assumptions underlying strategic interaction and collective action models of goverment repression and dissent. Specifically, we investigate whether citizens' perceptions of human rights conditions in a country are systematically related to that country's actual conditions of government repression. The analysis suggests that there is a significant relationship between evalutions of human rights conditions and levels of government repression. Moreover, it shows that other political and economic conditions affect human rights evaluations, but that these relations do not lead to a weaening in the relationship between repressive conditions and public perceptions of human rights.

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2011

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2006

... without the work done I by two research assistant at the Institute of Global Cultural Stu-JL ... more ... without the work done I by two research assistant at the Institute of Global Cultural Stu-JL dies, Betul Celik and Scott Corley. ... Britain's loss of such traditional military bases as Suez, Aden, Singapore and Gibraltar, have also increased the functional alternative provided by a ...