Individuals' willingness to pay for a HIV/AIDS vaccine: A case study of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Int Conf AIDS 2000 Jul 9-14; 13:(abstract no. ThOrD680)
Whittington D, Matsui O, Freiberger J, Pattanayak S, Van Houtven G D. Whittington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, Rosenau Hall CB#7400, United States, Tel.: +1 919 966 76 45, Fax: +1 919 966 76 46, E-mail: dale_whittington@unc.edu
This paper presents the first estimates of individual economic demand in a developing country for a vaccine that would provide lifetime protection against HIV/AIDS infection. The results are based on an in-person survey of 240 adults (18-60 years of age) conducted in Guadalajara, Mexico in November, 1999. Respondents were asked to suppose that a vaccine against HIV/AIDS existed and would provide 100% lifetime protection against contracting the virus. Respondents were then asked what their maximum willingness to pay (WTP) would be for such a vaccine. The survey findings indicate a substantial demand for such a vaccine. Mean WTP among noninfected adults in the general population of Guadalajara was about US$730, approximately 15% of average annual income in our sample. There was, however, a great deal of variation across individuals in their expressed WTP; sales of such a vaccine would thus be quite sensitive to the price charged. For example, over 80% of the sample would have purchased the vaccine at a price of US$32 per vaccine, whereas only about 20% said they would have purchased it at a price of US$842 per vaccine. If these findings about the magnitude of private demand for a HIV/AIDS vaccine in Guadalajara are representative of noninfected individuals' WTP elsewhere in the world, they have important implications for the ongoing global policy debates on the development of a HIV/AIDS vaccine. These results indicate that the economic benefits of a vaccine to uninfected individuals are much greater than most people have imagined and suggest that a much higher level of public and private funding is justified for the development of a HIV/AIDS vaccine. It also appears that the private market for a HIV/AIDS vaccine (at least in medium-income developing countries) should by itself be large enough to encourage much greater private sector R&D efforts.
Keywords: AEGIS, AIDS Vaccines, HIV Infections, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Seropositivity, Data Collection, Financing, Personal, Developing Countries, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Fees and Charges, Income, Mexico, Health Care Costs, Insurance, Health, Adult, economics
000709
ThOrD680
