Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33025. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033025. Epub 2012 Mar 6.
During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the global health community sought to make vaccine available "in developing nations in the same timeframe as developed nations." However, richer nations placed advance orders with manufacturers, leaving poorer nations dependent on the quantity and timing of vaccine donations by manufacturers and rich nations. Knowledge of public support for timely donations could be important to policy makers during the next pandemic. We explored what the United States (US) public believes about vaccine donation by its country to poorer countries.
We surveyed 2079 US adults between January 22(nd) and February 1(st) 2010 about their beliefs regarding vaccine donation to poorer countries. Income (p = 0.014), objective priority status (p = 0.005), nativity, party affiliation, and political ideology (p<0.001) were significantly related to views on the amount of vaccine to be donated. Though party affiliation and political ideology were related to willingness to donate vaccine (p<0.001), there was bipartisan support for timely donations of 10% of the US vaccine supply so that those "at risk in poorer countries can get the vaccine at the same time" as those at risk in the US.
We suggest that the US and other developed nations would do well to bolster support with education and public discussion on this issue prior to an emerging pandemic when emotional reactions could potentially influence support for donation. We conclude that given our evidence for bipartisan support for timely donations, it may be necessary to design multiple arguments, from utilitarian to moral, to strengthen public and policy makers' support for donations.
在 2009 年 H1N1 大流行期间，全球卫生界寻求在“发展中国家与发达国家同时获得疫苗”。然而，较富裕的国家向制造商提前订购，使较贫穷的国家依赖于制造商和富裕国家疫苗捐赠的数量和时间。了解公众对及时捐赠的支持，在下一次大流行期间可能对决策者很重要。我们探讨了美国公众对向较贫穷国家捐赠疫苗的看法。
我们在 2010 年 1 月 22 日至 2 月 1 日期间调查了 2079 名美国成年人，了解他们对向较贫穷国家捐赠疫苗的看法。收入（p=0.014）、客观优先地位（p=0.005）、出生国、党派和政治意识形态（p<0.001）与对捐赠疫苗数量的看法显著相关。尽管党派和政治意识形态与捐赠疫苗的意愿有关（p<0.001），但有两党支持及时捐赠美国疫苗供应量的 10%，以便“较贫穷国家的风险人群能够同时获得疫苗”，就像美国的风险人群一样。
我们建议，美国和其他发达国家在出现大流行时，最好通过教育和公共讨论来增强对这一问题的支持，因为此时情绪反应可能会影响对捐赠的支持。我们的结论是，鉴于我们有两党支持及时捐赠的证据，可能需要从功利主义到道德主义等多个角度来加强公众和决策者对捐赠的支持。
