Cost–benefit analysis of controlling rabies: placing economics at the heart of rabies control to focus political will

• DOI: 10.20506/rst.37.2.2833
• Publication Date: 2019-01-31T09:28:46Z
• Authors: S.A. SHWIFF; J.L. ELSER; K.H. ERNST; S.S. SHWIFF; A.M. ANDERSON
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Rabies; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Politics; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Dogs; Rabies Vaccines; Zoonoses; Animals; Humans; Dog Diseases; Disease Eradication

Rabies is an economically important zoonosis. This paper describes the extent of the economic impacts of the disease and some of the types of economic analyses used to understand those impacts, as well as the trade-offs between efforts to manage rabies and efforts to eliminate it. In many cases, the elimination of rabies proves more cost-effective over time than the continual administration of postexposure prophylaxis, animal testing and animal vaccination. Economic analyses are used to inform and drive policy decisions and focus political will, placing economics at the heart of rabies control.