In February, Mr. Harley Davidson, an analyst in the office of the
Injury Control Program, Public Health Service, of the Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS) was reviewing a recently published
Program Analysis entitled Disease Control Programs—Motor Vehicle Injury
Prevention Program. Included therein were nine program units. Mr.
Davidson was a member of a task force established within DHHS to
evaluate a series of benefit/cost analyses of various proposed disease
control programs. In addition to motor vehicle injury prevention,
benefit/cost studies had been made of programs dealing with control of
arthritis, cancer, tuberculosis, and syphilis. Mr. Davidson's specific
responsibility was to review Program Unit #8 of the Motor Vehicle
Injury Prevention Program (Increase Use of Improved Safety Devices by
Motorcyclists) in order to (a) evaluate the methodology and results of
the benefit/cost analysis of Program Unit #8, and (b) recommend whether
or not the analysis justified the level of funding contemplated in the
program unit.
THE MOTORCYCLE PROGRAM
The following describes Program Unit #8, as it appeared in the Program Analysis document:
Increase Use of Improved Safety Devices by Motorcyclists
To
prevent accidental deaths due to head injuries of motorcycle riders
through appropriate health activity at the national, state, and local
levels.
Approach. The Public Health Service approach to
solving the motorcycle injury problem will involve four phases.
Although each of the four phases of activity is identified separately,
all will be closely coordinated and carried out simultaneously. The
four phases of activity are:
- A national education program on
use of protective head gear aimed primarily at motorcycle users. It
will also include efforts to prepare operators of other motor vehicles
to share the road with motorcycles.
- A cooperative program with other national organizations and the motorcycle industry to improve protective and safety devices.
- Involvement
of state and local health departments and medical organizations in
programs and activities designed to minimize accidental injury in
motorcycle accidents.
- Conduct surveillance activity on appropriate aspects of the motorcycle accident and injury problem
The program unit was estimated to require the following level of new funding during the five-year planning period: . . .
Assignment
- As Mr. Davidson, prepare a critique of the methodology and findings of the benefit/cost analysis of Program Unit #8.
- Based on your evaluation of the analysis, would you recommend the level of funding proposed?