Would you pay a month's wages for a cancer-preventing vaccine?

[Andre]

Just out of curiosity, what is it worth to you?

Case A: Suppose that the risk of death by cancer is one in a million (1: 1,000,000) and suppose that one day a hypothetical preventive vaccination would be invented, how much would you be prepared to pay for that?

Case B: As in case A, except that the risk is now one in one hundred thousand (1:100,000)

Please provide one answer for case A and one for case B.

Thanks

 

[marcus]

Andre I think it depends on when, in the life of the individual, the cancer strikes, and also how protracted and painful the death.

To save the life of an 80-year-old guy who is likely to die anyway soon of heart-failure is much less appealing than to save the life of a 40-year-old.

And death, although it may not in itself necessarily be so bad, can involve horrible suffering.
One should not exaggerate how bad death (in and of itself, at a ripe age) is.

If you had your poll involve the risk of death by cancer before age 40 it would be easier to engage the imagination and evaluate. (Just to pick an arbitrary number, one could also say 50 and it would give traction to the mind.)

People die in wars---and they include children, young people, mothers and fathers who have family responsibilities etc etc. I would give a lot to vaccinate against war.

But just dying in the abstract does not, in itself, seem so bad. One does it anyway.

So I cannot see how to respond to your poll. Thanks anyway, however, since the general topic is quite interesting.

 

[Evo]

It is a difficult question. There is no history of cancer in either of my parents familes, so my chances of getting cancer are much lower than people with family histories. There is a history of a lot of people in my
family dying of heart disease. So I wouldn't pay much for a cancer vaccination, but I would pay a lot more for something that cured heart disease. So things like the likelyhood of cancer and fear would play into how much a person would be willing to pay.

 

[Andre]

Thanks, Marcus, yes I fully realize that there is a lot to consider. However, for the moment, I would just like to limit the thread to an individual '-healthy-' PF member, maybe 16, 32 or 48 years old, having monthly incomes of $400, 800, 3200, etc, to consider what it is worth.

I also intend to make the thread more interesting as we go along.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

It seems everyone around me is dying of some cancer. I'd pay a lot!

 

[lisab]

I voted "nothing" for each case. For the second case I might pay an hour's wage, but not a day's.

Of course I'm assuming the risk of these hypothetical vaccines is zero. That's not possible, but necessary so as to not muddy the rhetorically pristine waters .

 

[JaredJames]

As much as I'd like to say "everyone deserves equal treatment, treat them all or treat no one", I have to look at it from the point of view of worthiness.

In other words, rank people in order from people we must try and save to people we should try to and then on to people it's just not worth bothering with.

I know it sounds horrible, but as above I feel it's a waste of resources to try and save an 80 year old who is likely to die of other causes, where as a 30 year old heart surgeon is something of a priority.

In this respect, the value of cancer becomes an individual thing based on the persons 'worth' to society.

 

[chronon]

I voted nothing for each, as the answer to the question:
Suppose that the lifetime risk of death by hypothetical disease A is (1: 1,000,000) and of hypothetical disease B is (1: 100,000)
One thing's for sure, A and B aren't cancer, for which the lifetime risk is about 1:5. More likely a disease you haven't heard of. What would you pay for a vaccination against Wegener's Granulomatosis?

If the risks are annual risks then it changes the question slightly, but even so I wouldn't worry much about a annual risk below 1:10000

 

[Pythagorean]

Wait, so if I got this vaccine, I'd be able to do a lot of dangerous things that we generally avoid because of the cancer risk? I mean, would I be able to hang out with radiation and chew tobacco?

Also, you mean every type of cancer? I seriously doubt one vaccine would do this. Cancer is a "catch all" term that encompasses many different kinds of cellular malfunction.

Anyway, if this is the case, I'd easily pay a month's wages for the vaccine. Easily.