Interventions to Prevent Injuries and Reduce Environmental and Occupational Hazards

Abstract

This chapter recognizes the cost-effective types of interventions that can reduce unintentional injuries, interpersonal violence, and diseases related to air pollution and inadequate sanitation and unsafe water. Road traffic injuries (RTIs), drowning, and interpersonal violence all can be reduced by regulation and enforcement of laws, as well as education of children for swimming safety. Air pollution control ends up an expensive intervention but provides substantial economic benefits, and monitoring of water quality benefits shows economies of scale and financial sustainability. Despite broad recognition of the problem and many effective interventions, there is surprisingly little economic literature on the prevention of RTIs, burns, fall, poisoning, or weather-related injuries in LMICs. Empirical evidence suggests that people are willing to pay substantial amounts to mitigate negative externalities in the injury and environmental health domains.