Despite a 38% reduction in global drowning rates since 2000, drowning remains a critical public health issue, claiming over 300,000 lives in 2021—30 deaths every hour. This has been revealed by a first-ever report on drowning prevention prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) released on Saturday.
As per the report, nearly half of these deaths involved individuals under 29, with children under 5 accounting for a quarter of the fatalities, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced adult supervision and preventive measures.
Even as most drowning deaths could be prevented by implementing WHO-recommended interventions, more than 7.2 million people, mainly children, could die by drowning by the year 2050 if current trends continue.
“The significant decline in drowning deaths since 2000 is great news and proof that the simple, practical interventions that WHO recommends work,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Still, every drowning death is one death too many, and millions of people remain at risk. This report contains crucial data for policy-making and recommendations for urgent action to save lives.”
Progress in reducing drowning has been uneven. At the global level, 9 in 10 drowning deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO European Region saw a 68% drop in drowning death rate between 2000 and 2021, yet the rate fell by just 3% in the WHO African Region, which has the highest rate of any region with 5.6 deaths per 100 000 people. This may be influenced by the levels of national commitments to address the issue: within the African Region, only 15% of countries had a national strategy or plan for drowning prevention, compared to 45% of countries in the European Region.
“Drowning continues to be a major public health issue, but progress is possible, particularly if governments work with strong partners at the local level,” said Michael R Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, and 108th mayor of New York City.
“For more than a decade, Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported governments and local organizations that are leading effective drowning prevention efforts. This new report shows what more countries can do to help save thousands of lives every year.”
WHO recommends a series of community-based actions for drowning prevention, which include the installation of barriers to prevent child access to water; provision of safe places away from water for pre-school children, teaching school-aged children basic swimming water safety and safe rescue skills; training people in rescue and resuscitation; strengthening public awareness on drowning; setting and enforcing safe boating, shipping and ferry regulations; and improving flood risk management.
The report found WHO’s evidence-based drowning prevention interventions are being implemented to varying degrees.
Encouragingly, 73% of countries have search and rescue services, and a further 73% implement community-based flood risk mitigation programmes. However, only 33% of countries offer national programmes to train bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation, and just 22% integrate swimming and water safety training into their school curricula.
While accurate data is critical to inform prevention strategies, yet only 65% of countries report collecting drowning data through civil registration and vital statistics systems. Quality data is further required to compellingly raise awareness on the issue and mobilize governments and communities to take action.
While 81% of countries have laws on passenger safety for travelling by boat, Just 44% of these laws require regular safety inspections of the boats, and only 66% of countries mandate lifejacket use for recreational boating and transport on water; Of concern, 86% of countries lack laws for fencing around swimming pools, which is key to preventing child drowning in certain settings.
KEY FACTS
- Drowning disproportionately impacts children and young people. Children aged under 5 years account for nearly a quarter of all drowning deaths.
- Drowning is the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 1–4 years and the third leading cause of death for children aged 5–14 years.
- Ninety-two percent of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
- Resolutions endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly and the World Health Assembly provide a roadmap for global drowning prevention efforts.ent of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
- Resolutions endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly and the World Health Assembly provide a roadmap for global drowning prevention efforts.
