PhD projects

PhD projects at the University of Bergen

Allen Andrew A. Alvarez,  2009. Threshold considerations. The ethics of healthcare  rationing in extreme scarcity.

This thesis examines various approaches to health care rationing and their applicability in the setting of extreme resource scarcity. It argues that trade-offs among those who are below a certain threshold in terms of satisfaction of health care needs are never permissible. Allen Alvarez is from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and is now at the University of Vancouver. 

Nicola Wendy Barsdorf, 2012. South Africa’s duty to support health research for the global poor.

There has not been much discussion in the literature of global justice what the obligations of emerging economies are for the global poor. This thesis examines this question in relation to obligations to do health research of relevance to poverty related diseases. It argues that South Africa does have such an obligations, partly based on its common history with in particular neighboring African countries.  Nicola Barsdorf is from the University of KwaZulu Natal, and is now at the University of Stellenbosch.

Chunshui Wang, 2014

Many countries have introduced various universal coverage schemes during the past few years. China is one such country. Typically, however, such schemes have different levels of coverage among different population groups. Little attention has been given in the literature to how one should ration and prioritize health care among different groups, when the available resources are not sufficient to provide everyone with a decent level of health care coverage. The aim of this thesis is to examine the ethics involved in health care prioritization in such settings. Chunshui Wang is from Peking Union Medical College. She completed her dissertation in 2014 and is now working in Beijing.

John Barugahare, 2016

Most discussions of global justice assume that there are few, if any, obligations of poor countries. This thesis will argue that poor countries also have obligations of global justice, and will identify what they are. Since global justice must be seen as a shared responsibility, the thesis will discuss implications this view has for development assistance, in particular in the area of health. John Barugahare is from Makerere University, Uganda, completed his dissertation in 2016, and is now head of the Philosophy  Department at Makerere University. 

In addition to these, there have been a number of students who have spent shorter periods of time in Bergen, and has been co-adviced from Bergen. These include Kenji Matsui from Japan, who is now at the National Cancer Institute in Japan; Pattapong Kesomboon who is now at Khon Kaen University in Thailand; Di Zhang, who is now at Peking Union Medical College; Zhaochen Wang who is now at the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou.