Determinants of felt demand for dengue vaccines in the North Caribbean region of Colombia

Abstract

BackgroundThe increasing burden associated with dengue in Latin America makes it essential to understand the community’s interest in acquiring vaccines, as an input to plan its introduction in endemic regions. The objective of this study is to learn the felt demand for dengue vaccines by estimating the willingness to pay and its associated factors in endemic communities of the North Caribbean region of Colombia.MethodsA population survey was administered from October to December 2015, including 1037 families in 11 municipalities in Colombia. One adult per family was interviewed on their perception and history of dengue. Participants received a description of four hypothetical scenarios of dengue vaccines, administered in a single dose or in 3 doses, with an effectiveness of 70% for 5 years or 95% for 30 years. The willingness to pay for each one of these vaccines was inquired vs. 5 hypothetical prices in Colombian pesos.ResultsMost participants recognized dengue as a serious disease in children (99.3%) and adults (98.6%). 33 (3.2%) of the total respondents reported having suffered dengue and 19 (57.6%) of them required hospitalization. The price of the vaccine was inversely related to the willingness to pay. In addition, single dose vaccines (compared to 3 doses) and one with a protection of 95% for 30 years (compared to an effectiveness of 70% for 5 years), were associated with greater willingness to pay. Greater willingness to pay was observed among the respondents who considered it likely to get the disease, either themselves (OR 1.56; CI 95% 1.08–2.26) or their children (OR 1.89; CI 95% 1.28–2.81), in the next 5 years. The participants who have been diagnosed with dengue also showed greater willingness to pay (OR 1.89; CI 95% 1.01–3.54) compared to those who did not have this history.ConclusionFactors such as price, number of doses and effectiveness can independently influence the decision to purchase a vaccine against an endemic disease, such as dengue. Additionally, this study reveals that background and perceptions of the disease can affect individuals’ interest in acquiring this type of preventive interventions.

Willingness to Pay for Dengue Vaccine and Its Associated Factors Among Healthcare Workers in Petaling Health District

“…Nevertheless, there is no significant association between WTP for dengue vaccine with knowledge of dengue. This finding is contrary to several of the studies of WTP for dengue vaccine conducted previously which showed significant association between knowledge of dengue with WTP for dengue vaccine (Bracho-Churio et al, 2017;Hadisoemarto & Castro, 2013;Harapan et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015). These studies reported that knowledge have a significant association with WTP for dengue vaccine where good knowledge is related to a higher WTP for dengue vaccine.…”

“…Higher income category is associated with high WTP for dengue vaccine (χ2=11.974, p=0.003). This finding coincides with all studies of WTP for dengue vaccine done which reported a highly significant association between WTP for dengue vaccine with monthly household income of respondents (Bracho-Churio et al, 2017;Godói et al, 2017;Hadisoemarto & Castro, 2013;Harapan et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015;Palanca-Tan, 2008).…”

“…This echoes majority of the studies on WTP for dengue vaccine which reported that history of dengue fever is not significantly associated with WTP for the vaccine (Godói et al, 2017;Hadisoemarto & Castro, 2013;Harapan et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015;Palanca-Tan, 2008). Two studies, however, did show a significant association between history of dengue fever with WTP for the dengue vaccine that is in Vietnam and North Columbia where respondents with positive history of dengue fever having a higher WTP for dengue vaccine (Bracho-Churio et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015).…”

“…Approximately 57.3% of respondents with good perception towards vaccination as compared to 39.1% of those with poor perception towards vaccination have a high WTP for dengue vaccine. Good perception towards vaccination was shown to be significantly associated with WTP for dengue vaccine in one study in North Columbia (Bracho-Churio et al, 2017). In contrast, other studies did not produced any significant association between perception towards vaccination and WTP for dengue vaccine (Godói et al, 2017;Hadisoemarto & Castro, 2013;Harapan et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015;Palanca-Tan, 2008).…”

“…Assessment of attitude towards dengue showed no significant association with WTP for dengue vaccine where 57.6% of those with good attitude compared to 48.1 % of those with poor attitude portrayed a high WTP for dengue vaccine. However, several WTP for dengue vaccine studies showed significant association between attitude towards dengue with WTP for dengue vaccine (Bracho-Churio et al, 2017;Hadisoemarto & Castro, 2013;Harapan et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2015). In these studies, it was reported that attitude had a significant association with WTP for dengue vaccine where there was high WTP for dengue with good attitude of respondents.…”