Teaching children to swim reduces water risks. Drowning deaths in Europe down 68 percent Health
Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its first ever report on drowning prevention. It found that drowning deaths have fallen globally by 38 percent since 2000.
At the same time, the WHO notes that drowning remains a serious problem. Every hour, more than 30 people drown around the world. In 2021 alone, 300,000 people died from drowning. Almost half of all drowning deaths occur in people under 29 years old, and a quarter occur in children under 5 years old. Children without adult supervision are at highest risk.
“The significant decline in drowning deaths since 2000 is great news and proof that the simple, practical measures recommended by WHO work,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“However, every drowning death is an avoidable death, and millions of people remain at risk. Our report provides important policy evidence and recommendations for urgent action to save lives,” he added.
Progress in reducing drowning has been uneven, the report says. Globally, 90 per cent of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In the WHO European Region, drowning deaths fell by 68 per cent between 2000 and 2021, but in the WHO African Region, the rate fell by just 3 per cent. Africa has the highest rate of any region, with 5.6 drowning deaths per 100,000 people.
WHO says this may be due to country policies. In the African Region, only 15 per cent of countries have a national drowning prevention strategy or plan, compared with 45 per cent in the European Region.
Michael Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former Mayor of New York City, stressed the need for governments to partner with organizations working in this area.
“For more than a decade, Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported governments and local organizations taking action to prevent drowning. This new report shows what more countries can do to help save thousands of lives each year,” Bloomberg said.
Recommendations to Reduce Deaths
More than 7.2 million people, mostly children, could die from drowning by 2050 if current trends continue. Most deaths are preventable by following WHO recommendations.
The measures proposed by the organization include installing barriers around water, making swimming lessons mandatory for children, creating safe play areas for children away from water, training people of all ages in rescue and resuscitation, raising public awareness of drowning, introducing and enforcing boating and other watercraft safety regulations, and better flood risk management.
The report says that the measures recommended by WHO are being implemented to varying degrees in different countries, with 73 percent of countries having adequate search and rescue services. 73 percent of countries implement flood risk reduction programs.
Only 33 percent of countries have programs to teach the population rescue and resuscitation skills, and only 22 percent include swimming and water safety training in school curricula.
Only 66 countries require the mandatory use of life jackets on watercraft and pleasure boats. And 86 percent of countries do not have laws on the installation of fences around swimming pools.
WHO also notes the need to collect data on drowning, since accurate information will help raise awareness of this problem and develop the necessary prevention strategies. However, only 65 countries collect data in this area.