Angela Wallace

Cost‐effectiveness of interventions to prevent alcohol‐related disease and injury in Australia

AIMS To evaluate cost-effectiveness of eight interventions for reducing alcohol-attributable harm and determine the optimal intervention mix. METHODS Interventions include volumetric taxation, advertising bans, an increase in minimum legal drinking age, licensing controls on operating hours, brief intervention (with and without general practitioner telemarketing and support), drink driving campaigns, random breath testing and residential treatment for alcohol dependence (with and without naltrexone). Cost-effectiveness is modelled over the life-time of the Australian population in 2003, with all costs and health outcomes evaluated from an Australian health sector perspective. Each intervention is compared with current practice, and the most cost-effective options are then combined to determine the optimal intervention mix. MEASUREMENTS Cost-effectiveness is measured in 2003 Australian dollars per disability adjusted life year averted. FINDINGS Although current alcohol intervention in Australia (random breath testing) is cost-effective, if the current spending of

Measuring driver responses at railway level crossings

71 million could be invested in a more cost-effective combination of interventions, more than 10 times the amount of health gain could be achieved. Taken as a package of interventions, all seven preventive interventions would be a cost-effective investment that could lead to substantial improvement in population health; only residential treatment is not cost-effective. CONCLUSIONS Based on current evidence, interventions to reduce harm from alcohol are highly recommended. The potential reduction in costs of treating alcohol-related diseases and injuries mean that substantial improvements in population health can be achieved at a relatively low cost to the health sector.

The cost—effectiveness of call-back counselling for smoking cessation

Railway level crossings are amongst the most complex of road safety control systems, due to the conflicts between road vehicles and rail infrastructure, trains and train operations. Driver behaviour at railway crossings is the major collision factor. The main objective of the present paper was to evaluate the existing conventional warning devices in relation to driver behaviour. The common conventional warning devices in Australia are a stop sign (passive), flashing lights and a half boom-barrier with flashing lights (active). The data were collected using two approaches, namely: field video recordings at selected sites and a driving simulator in a laboratory. This paper describes and compares the driver response results from both the field survey and the driving simulator. The conclusion drawn is that different types of warning systems resulted in varying driver responses at crossings. The results showed that on average driver responses to passive crossings were poor when compared to active ones. The field results were consistent with the simulator results for the existing conventional warning devices and hence they may be used to calibrate the simulator for further evaluation of alternative warning systems.

Would vaccination against nicotine be a cost-effective way to prevent smoking uptake in adolescents?

Abstract Objective To assess the cost–effectiveness of the Quitline, a call-back counselling service for smoking cessation, in the states of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Methods A cost–effectiveness analysis using a deterministic Markov model, and cost per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) averted over a lifetime as the outcome measure. Population: Current smokers, motivated to quit. Results Call-back counselling for smoking cessation provided by the Quitline is an intervention that both improves health with additional quitters, and achieves net cost savings due to the cost offsets being greater than the cost of the intervention. If cost offsets are excluded, the cost per quitter is

The experiences and perceptions of heavy vehicle drivers and train drivers of dangers at railway level crossings

A773 (95% uncertainty interval

Barriers to the use of urban medical services by rural and remote area households

A769

Motorist behaviour at railway level crossings : the present context in Australia

–

Young drivers at railway crossings: an exploration of risk perception and target behaviours for intervention

A779), and the incremental cost–effectiveness ratio is

Assessing cost-effectiveness in prevention : ACE–prevention September 2010 final report

A294 per DALY (95% uncertainty interval

Human factors at railway level crossings : key issues and target road user groups

A293–