People Value Rare Child Disease Treatment Highly

Researchers ran a web based survey to learn how much people would value a new treatment for a rare baby disease called hypophosphatasia. The survey targeted adults aged 21 to 54 who live in the United States. It was a cross sectional study that asked two different questions. One question was for people who plan to have children, and the other was for people who do not plan to have children.

A total of 511 people were eligible to take part. 257 of them answered the insurance question, and 254 answered the altruism question. Most of the respondents, about 72 percent, were between 30 and 49 years old. Just over half, roughly 53 percent, were men.

When asked how much they would pay for full coverage of the new therapy, the insurance group said about ten dollars a month. That works out to roughly one hundred twenty four dollars a year. For the altruism group, the amount they were willing to pay in taxes was about nine dollars a month. That equals about one hundred twelve dollars a year.

These figures mean the treatment is seen as very valuable, especially for saving a child's life. People are ready to spend more to protect a baby than to help an adult with the same rare condition. The high numbers show strong support for the therapy and suggest that health gains for children are prized more highly.