Dim Jim Fails Study Study.
Well the web’s dumbest man is off to the races, again.
Now he’s bitching about a study that was funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA-2009) and administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, because it didn’t create any jobs.
In fact, according to the tenor of Hoft’s post, titled “$423,500 Obama Stimulus Funding Went to Study Proper Condom Use – No Jobs Created” it was a laughable and expensive study about how to wear condoms.
I guess little Jimmy didn’t read the act or he would have known the purpose was not restricted to creating jobs.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES.
(a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act include the following:
(1) To preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery.
(2) To assist those most impacted by the recession.
(3) To provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health.
(4) To invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.
(5) To stabilize State and local government budgets, in order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases.
(b) GENERAL PRINCIPLES CONCERNING USE OF FUNDS.—The President and the heads of Federal departments and agencies shall manage and expend the funds made available in this Act so as to achieve the purposes specified in subsection (a), including commencing expenditures and activities as quickly as possible consistent with prudent management.
By the way Jimmy, you can find the Act here.
OK, so we’ve dismantled Hoft and his source for the information The Weekly Standard mistaken idea that the ARRA-2009 was limited to funding job creation, now on to the idea that the study was silly and expensive.
The study’s project summary states that it was funded 05/29/2009 and concluded sometime in the last quarter of 2012 at a cost of $423,500.
That would be just over three years, so the cost would be ~$141,167 per year.
The purpose of the study wasn’t to teach men how to wear a condom but to… well maybe I should just post the goal from the award summary:
Sexually transmitted infections (STI), including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), pose significant health risks. Consistent and correct use of condoms can be a highly effective method of preventing the transmission of HIV and many STIs, yet studies show that problems with condom use are common. This project is one of the first to examine under controlled conditions the role of cognitive and affective factors and condom skills in explaining condom use problems in young, heterosexual adult men.
It was about increasing the effectiveness of condom use training by analyzing why the training fails. The obvious take away from that is improved training resulting in more consistent use of condoms as a preventative measure against STIs.
According to the CDC, there are 20,000,000 new STI cases in the US every year at a total medical cost of $16,000,000,000 per year.
In February 2013, CDC published two analyses that provide an in-depth look at the severe human and economic burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States.
CDC’s new estimates show that there are about 20 million new infections in the United States each year, costing the American healthcare system nearly $16 billion in direct medical costs alone.
Of that $16 billion, ~$1,407,600,000 goes toward 41,400 people who contract HIV every year. That means ~$34,000 per person per year is spent on HIV treatment.
Non-HIV costs are $741 per person per year.
19,738,800 (all cases) - 41,400 (HIV) = 19,697,400 people contract non-HIV STIs every year. $14,592,400,000 / 19,697,400 = ~$741
So if the study results in training methods that encourage just 5 men enough to avoid contracting or spreading HIV , or 191 (out of a population of ~157,000,000) men from contracting or spreading some other STI, it has more than paid for itself.
Stick that in your condom and smoke it Dim Jim.
[edit] I had the numbers incorrect. The amount I originally used for HIV included medical costs and quality of life costs. The CDC estimates that it costs ~$23000.00/year/person for medicine plus up to $10,000 for the initial test.