Every year, an estimated 236,000 people drown, making drowning a major public health problem worldwide. Drowning is one of the leading causes of death globally for children and young people aged 1-24 years. Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death, accounting for 7 percent of all injury-related deaths. Accidental drowning is a major problem in Sri Lanka as well, with at least one incident reported per week.
The global burden of death from drowning is felt in all economies and regions, however.
Low - and middle-income countries account for over 90 percent of unintentional drowning deaths.
Over half of the world’s drowning occurs in the WHO Western Pacific Region and WHO South-East Asia Region.
Drowning death rates are the highest in the WHO Western Pacific Region, and are 27-32 times higher than those seen in the United Kingdom or Germany.
Resolution
On April 29, 2021 the United Nations made history when it adopted an official resolution on global drowning prevention for the first time in the organisation’s history.
As part of the resolution, the UN declared that July 25, each year would officially be known as ‘World Drowning Prevention Day’ to serve as an opportunity to highlight the tragic effect of drowning on families and communities, as well as offering life-saving solutions to prevent drowning.
The resolution, which was proposed by the governments of Ireland and Bangladesh, was co-sponsored by 79 other countries with support from the RNLI, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The resolution looks to bring together governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations academia, individuals, and the private sector to highlight the need for urgent and co-ordinated action on drowning prevention measures.
It outlined a framework of actions that every country should take to prevent drowning. This includes appointing a national focal point for drowning reduction and having a national plan to share lessons learned and recording national drowning statistics.
All stakeholders – governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations, the private sector, academia and persons – are invited to mark World Drowning Prevention Day by highlighting the need for urgent, coordinated and multi-sectoral action on proven measures such as:
• installing barriers controlling access to water;
• providing safe places away from water such as crèches for pre-school children with capable childcare;
• teaching swimming, water safety and safe rescue skills;
• training bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation;
• setting and enforcing safe boating, shipping and ferry regulations;
• improving flood risk management.
The new UN General Assembly resolution invited the WHO to coordinate actions on drowning prevention within the UN system. In this capacity, WHO leads preparations for World Drowning Prevention Day by producing related advocacy materials and hosting a global launch event.
The purpose of the WDPD is raising awareness of drowning prevention and celebrating the actions and initiatives that lifesaving organisations around the world are taking to prevent this.
As we approach this year’s celebration, this year’s key theme, launched by the WHO, will be “Do one thing to prevent drowning”.
This theme is an invitation to take one concrete action to advance drowning prevention, something all of us can do, individually or in groups. This can be done by Governments, organisations and even individuals.
The one thing that will prevent drowning is of course, staying away from unsafe waters including rough seas, rivers and tanks (in the context of Sri Lanka). In many cases, people ignore warning signs and red flags to wade into the water without knowing how dangerous it can be.
Advantage
Knowing how to swim can definitely be an advantage in a case of drowning but sometimes overconfidence in one’s swimming ability could spell an early demise.
There could be currents and whirlpools that cannot be conquered by swimming in the sea and even in seemingly placid rivers and reservoirs. Also, it is difficult to gauge the depths of many rivers from the shore and those who assume that the water near the banks could be shallow may find that it is not necessarily so. By then it could be too late.
Another step that can be taken is posting more lifeguards on the seashore and near rivers and tanks. Apart from their purely life saving function, as glamourised in the hit TV series Baywatch, they can educate bathers on avoiding a potential drowning situation and prevent people from wading in in the first place if the water conditions are not conducive.
They can assess water depth, wave speed and currents etc and keep the bathers informed and safe. All commercial pools should have a lifeguard at all times, especially near the deep end. Fortunately, most new pools have no such deep end, being only about four feet deep, which is safe enough for non swimmers.
Water safety should also be included in the school curriculum in some form, at least as part of another subject. Schools should encourage children to learn swimming where such facilities are available and even life saving measures such as CPR. The children in turn can educate the parents of the importance of getting into water safely.
Lifejackets
Although Sri Lankan authorities have made lifejackets compulsory for all commercial and leisure ferries and boats, many operators hardly enforce this rule. This has led to the needless and horrendous loss of lives in the high seas, waterways and tanks.
Lifejackets save lives, period. All passengers of ferries and boats should be compelled to wear them without exception. Moreover, all such boats should have flotation devices and ropes. All boat crew including those of Fisher boats should be given Search and Rescue (SAR) training.
Finally, do not get into the water anywhere if you feel or think that it would not be safe. That is the first and foremost step to ensuring your safety in and around water. Always follow warning signs and flags. If you see a red flag, stop right there and do not go beyond it. Heed any instructions given by the lifeguards and other responsible persons. Always think that your life and the loves of your loved ones are more precious than 15 minutes in the water.