Willingness to pay for zinc treatment of childhood diarrhoea in a rural population of Bangladesh

Young children in the developing world continue to experience a median of between two and four episodes of diarrhoea each year. To better understand adherence to the WHO/UNICEF-recommended diarrhoea management guidelines, which now include zinc, this study aimed to determine how much caregivers were willing to pay for zinc treatment and to explore the characteristics of actual users of zinc in a rural community of Bangladesh.

Initially a contingent valuation survey was conducted among primary caregivers of children aged 6–36 months. The researchers assessed their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for 10 days of zinc treatment per diarrhoea episode at Tk.15 (US$0.26) and at Tk.20 (US$0.34), followed by an open question on the highest WTP amount. Next the researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey in the same area to identify households with children who had received zinc during their most recent diarrhoea episode within the previous 3 months.

The expressed WTP results indicate a high demand for zinc in childhood diarrhoea management in this rural community of Bangladesh. Safety net measures and targeted communication activities specifically aimed at the poor and less educated population could be beneficial to achieve more equitable use of zinc as part of the standard treatment with oral rehydration solution in childhood diarrhoea management.