Measuring the Effectiveness of Vietnam’s National Action Plan to Increase Helmet Use among Child Motorcycle Passengers in Three Major Cities.

Motorcyclists account for 75% of the estimated 22,000 fatalities caused by road injury each year in Vietnam. Helmets, widely worn by adult motorcyclists, are a cost-effective and proven intervention. Despite legislation mandating that children 6 years and above must wear helmets, child helmet use rates in Vietnam were low. In response, AIP Foundation leveraged evidence from its previous communications campaign to advocate Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC) to issue a National Child Helmet Action Plan for all 63 provinces during 2015. As part of the action plan, AIP Foundation adapted and expanded its communications campaign design from three target cities (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang) to nationwide, focusing on 12 other provinces in Vietnam. The objective of this study was to evaluate the progress of the action plan toward its aim to a transformational increase in child helmet use in the 15 target cities and provinces by the end of 2015. Helmet observations at systematically sampled schools in the target provinces before and after the first phase of the action plan. The results from the final evaluation of the previous communications campaign are serving as the baseline for three target cities and post-observations will take place in April and November 2015. AIP Foundation measured baselines at the remaining 12 target provinces in March 2015 and will conduct a post-observation in November 2015. If funding is available, an additional post-observation will take place in all 15 target cities/provinces in November 2016 to assess the sustainability of the action plan. Average helmet wearing rates increased from 38% across the three target cities in March 2014 to 69% in April 2015. Hanoi experienced the greatest increase: from 23% in 2014 to 69% in 2015. In Danang, child helmet use increased from 37% to 75%, and in Ho Chi Minh City, the rate increased from 48% to 68%. An integrated campaign with national government leadership can bring about a substantial change in child helmet use. The adaptations applied to the action plan implementation have had a greater effect than the previous communications campaign