.
When someone thinks of causes of death, natural disasters, war, and disease most likely come to mind, but water probably does not. However, bodies of waters, be it pools or rivers, warrant another look when it comes to safety.
In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Global Report on Drowning, the group’s first report dedicated solely to the health risk of drowning. The report’s insight is staggering, as it reveals drowning is one of the leading causes of death globally, with 42 drowning-related deaths happening every hour.
According to the report, 372,000 people die from drowning every year and over half of those deaths are people under 25 years of age. Most tragically, the highest rates of drowning are for children. The WHO reports that over 140,000 children under the age of 15 died as a result of drowning, making drowning one of the ten leading causes of death for children.
Beyond demographics, the report highlights the fact that 90 percent of these drowning deaths are occurring in low and middle-income countries. The Global Report on Drowning highlighted Bangladesh, as one such lower income nation where drowning remains a large threat to the nation’s children. The report states that drowning accounts for 43 percent of deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4, while deaths caused by infectious diseases have been on the decline.
Drowning is a public health risk, just like infectious diseases, yet it is continually overlooked by nations and global organizations. While the world should not turn its head to issues like malaria or HIV, it should also be working to address the health risk that drowning presents.
The frustrating part of this high number of drowning deaths is that they are preventable. The WHO states that some typical causes of drowning deaths are poor supervision, lack of water safety knowledge, and inadequate barriers to bodies of water.
The report offers a list of actions that can be taken to prevent drowning deaths, like properly barricading unsafe areas of water, teaching people how to swim and giving them basic water safety knowledge, as well as increasing overall supervision around water. It is clear that all of these causes of drowning can be addressed if states and organizations take the time to look at them.
Meetings like the World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) are important in furthering research on drowning. It is through these types of conferences that experts can come together and improve the world’s knowledge and prevention techniques related to drowning, so hopefully this death toll can begin to decline. The International Life Saving Federation (ILS) and the WHO will be co-sponsoring the 2015 WCDP in Malaysia this coming November.
140,000 children should not be dying from drowning. 140,000 families should not be going through the pain of losing a child to drowning. The global community should come together and listen to the WHO, ILS, and other organizations that are looking into drowning, so the world as a whole can work to combat this preventable killer.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
a global affairs media network
Staying Afloat: Preventing Drowning Across the Globe
August 6, 2015
When someone thinks of causes of death, natural disasters, war, and disease most likely come to mind, but water probably does not. However, bodies of waters, be it pools or rivers, warrant another look when it comes to safety.
In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Global Report on Drowning, the group’s first report dedicated solely to the health risk of drowning. The report’s insight is staggering, as it reveals drowning is one of the leading causes of death globally, with 42 drowning-related deaths happening every hour.
According to the report, 372,000 people die from drowning every year and over half of those deaths are people under 25 years of age. Most tragically, the highest rates of drowning are for children. The WHO reports that over 140,000 children under the age of 15 died as a result of drowning, making drowning one of the ten leading causes of death for children.
Beyond demographics, the report highlights the fact that 90 percent of these drowning deaths are occurring in low and middle-income countries. The Global Report on Drowning highlighted Bangladesh, as one such lower income nation where drowning remains a large threat to the nation’s children. The report states that drowning accounts for 43 percent of deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4, while deaths caused by infectious diseases have been on the decline.
Drowning is a public health risk, just like infectious diseases, yet it is continually overlooked by nations and global organizations. While the world should not turn its head to issues like malaria or HIV, it should also be working to address the health risk that drowning presents.
The frustrating part of this high number of drowning deaths is that they are preventable. The WHO states that some typical causes of drowning deaths are poor supervision, lack of water safety knowledge, and inadequate barriers to bodies of water.
The report offers a list of actions that can be taken to prevent drowning deaths, like properly barricading unsafe areas of water, teaching people how to swim and giving them basic water safety knowledge, as well as increasing overall supervision around water. It is clear that all of these causes of drowning can be addressed if states and organizations take the time to look at them.
Meetings like the World Conference on Drowning Prevention (WCDP) are important in furthering research on drowning. It is through these types of conferences that experts can come together and improve the world’s knowledge and prevention techniques related to drowning, so hopefully this death toll can begin to decline. The International Life Saving Federation (ILS) and the WHO will be co-sponsoring the 2015 WCDP in Malaysia this coming November.
140,000 children should not be dying from drowning. 140,000 families should not be going through the pain of losing a child to drowning. The global community should come together and listen to the WHO, ILS, and other organizations that are looking into drowning, so the world as a whole can work to combat this preventable killer.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
