Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP), and acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for mosquito-borne diseases control through sterile mosquito release in Bangkok, Thailand.

BACKGROUND

Arboviral diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika are public health concerns worldwide. Prevention and control of these diseases still depend on controlling Aedes aegypti mosquito vectors. Sterile insect technique (SIT) and incompatible insect technique (IIT) are environmental friendly approaches that show promising impacts. In order to plan an implementation of SIT/IIT technology, background knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) related to mosquito-borne diseases, mosquito vectors and their prevention and control, as well as acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for the technology, in the targeted communities are needed.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this paper, we conducted questionnaire surveys on KAP and WTP in 400 sampled households in seven communities located in two districts in Bangkok, Thailand. Multivariate logistic regressions analysis was used to determine the association among knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Our findings indicated that participants had high knowledge on dengue (85.25%), and they were more concerned with the severity of dengue than chikungunya and Zika. Participants with ages lower than 35 years old (p = 0.047) and incomes higher than 5,000 THB (p = 0.016) had more knowledge of mosquito vectors. Moreover, 47% of respondents had positive attitude toward sterile mosquitoes and their application in vector control even though 45.5% of them had never heard about the technology. However, the majority of them were not willing to pay (52%); and if they had to pay, the maximum would be 1-2 THB (US$ 1 = ~34 THB) per sterile mosquito, since most of them expected to receive the service as public support from the government.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study was the first to study KAP and WTP related to SIT/IIT technology. It provided unique insights into how communities view the technology. It also suggested potential for successful implementation with proper education as well as highlighted the need for cost-sharing strategies with government subsidization for SIT/IIT deployment. Municipal officials and community health volunteers were key communication channels and targeted public education was needed, especially on under-recognized diseases like chikungunya and Zika. These findings should be useful for health authorities in planning to integrate SIT/IIT technology with traditional approaches for disease vector control and prevention.