Ughasoro Maduka Donatus, Esangbedo Dorothy Omono, Tagbo Beckie Nnenna, Mejeha Ijeoma Chigozie
Department of Paediatrics, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria.
Paediatric Division, Providence Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Jun 15;9(6):e0003838. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003838. eCollection 2015 Jun.
Ebola virus disease is a highly virulent and transmissible disease. The largest recorded fatality from Ebola virus disease epidemic is ongoing in a few countries in West Africa, and this poses a health risk to the entire population of the world because arresting the transmission has been challenging. Vaccination is considered a key intervention that is capable of arresting further spread of the disease and preventing future outbreak. However, no vaccine has yet been approved for public use, although various recombinant vaccines are undergoing trials and approval for public use is imminent. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the acceptability of and willingness-to-pay for Ebola virus vaccine by the public.
The study was a community-based cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative interventional study conducted in two communities, each in two states in Nigeria. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on respondents' knowledge of the Ebola virus, the ways to prevent the disease, and their preventive practices, as well as their acceptability of and willingness-to-pay for a hypothetical vaccine against Ebola virus disease. The association between acceptability of the vaccine and other independent variables were evaluated using multivariate regression analysis.
Ebola virus disease was considered to be a very serious disease by 38.5% of the 582 respondents (224/582), prior to receiving health education on Ebola virus and its vaccine. Eighty percent (80%) accepted to be vaccinated with Ebola vaccine. However, among those that accepted to be vaccinated, most would only accept after observing the outcome on others who have received the vaccine. More than 87.5% was willing to pay for the vaccine, although 55.2% was of the opinion that the vaccine should be provided free of charge.
The level of acceptability of Ebola virus vaccine among respondents was impressive (though conditional), as well as their willingness to pay for it if the vaccine is not publicly funded. In order to achieve a high uptake of the vaccine, information and education on the vaccine should be extensively shared with the public prior to the introduction of the vaccine, and the vaccine should be provided free of charge by government.
埃博拉病毒病是一种高致病性和高传染性疾病。西非一些国家正在经历有记录以来最严重的埃博拉病毒病疫情，由于阻止病毒传播具有挑战性，这对全球人口构成了健康风险。疫苗接种被认为是能够阻止疾病进一步传播并预防未来疫情爆发的关键干预措施。然而，尽管各种重组疫苗正在进行试验且即将获批供公众使用，但尚无疫苗被批准用于公共用途。因此，本研究旨在确定公众对埃博拉病毒疫苗的接受程度和支付意愿。
本研究是一项基于社区的横断面定性和定量干预研究，在尼日利亚两个州的两个社区进行。采用由访谈员进行问卷调查的方式，收集受访者对埃博拉病毒的了解、预防疾病的方法及其预防措施，以及他们对一种假设的埃博拉病毒病疫苗的接受程度和支付意愿。使用多变量回归分析评估疫苗接受程度与其他自变量之间的关联。
在582名受访者中，38.5%（224/582）在接受埃博拉病毒及其疫苗的健康教育之前，就认为埃博拉病毒病是一种非常严重的疾病。80%的受访者接受接种埃博拉疫苗。然而，在那些接受接种的人中，大多数人只有在观察到其他接种疫苗者的结果后才会接受。超过87.5%的人愿意为疫苗付费，尽管55.2%的人认为疫苗应该免费提供。
受访者对埃博拉病毒疫苗的接受程度令人印象深刻（尽管是有条件的），如果疫苗不是由公共资金提供，他们也愿意为此付费。为了实现疫苗的高接种率，在引入疫苗之前，应广泛向公众分享有关疫苗的信息和教育，并且政府应免费提供疫苗。
