Dog Owners’ Willingness to Pay for Rabies Vaccine and Associated Factors in Selected Zones of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

OBJECTIVE: To understand the dog owners' willingness to pay (WTP) for rabies vaccines to control rabies and influencing factors in selected zones of Amhara region, Ethiopia. METHODS: Questionnaire data were collected from 403 dog owners selected for this purpose. Contingent valuation method was used to evaluate WTP. The interval regression analysis was used to identify factors associated to owners' WTP for rabies vaccine. RESULTS: The majority of dog owners (65%) were WTP for suggested price bid amounts, but some had shown variability when it comes to specific price bid amounts, namely their WTP decreased when the price of the vaccine increased. The mean WTP for rabies vaccine was 38.61 ETB (0.471USD) per year. Government employees were 18.5 (95% CI: 5.55-26.10, P value <0.003) times more likely WTP for rabies vaccine compared to farmers. Respondents who believe that vaccines prevent diseases were 19.5 times more likely to be WTP for rabies vaccine. CONCLUSION: Although majority of dog owners were WTP for rabies vaccine, increasing awareness of the importance of vaccination in disease control and increasing availability of rabies vaccine by low price would increase the chances of controlling rabies through vaccination.