How to Prevent Drowning: An Eye-opening Report That's Reassuring yet Hopeful

Father teaches his child how to swim in a pond in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Drowning remains one of the leading causes of child deaths globally according to World Health Organization report on drowning as public health issue.
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According to a groundbreaking global report released by WHO on how to prevent drownings from surveying 139 countries worldwide. Every year over 300,000. people die by drowning. Unfortunately most cases could have been avoided with proper preventive strategies, but unfortunately many still fall prey. Children were identified as the highest risk group by this report, as nearly one quarter of drowning deaths worldwide are among children under age 4. Another 19% are between 5-14, making drowning one of the leading causes of mortality globally among kids aged five through 14. According to Caroline Lukaszyk, technical officer for injury prevention at WHO: “Drowning deaths among young children are often underrecognized but extremely devastating yet preventable; regardless of where people reside or their context,” it can still be avoided.
At first sight this would appear to be an unlikely source for inspiration but once inside and experiencing all its wonder, all hopes become lost unless action are taken immediately to rectify it.
Additionally, this report details the extent of the problem while also outlining solutions working well in some countries to bring down drowning rates, she stated. These solutions tend to be low-tech but highly effective – such as using empty soda bottles as flotation devices. Drowning deaths have fallen by 38% since 2000 thanks to simple techniques like these; yet drownings remain a significant public health threat as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of floods. Lukaszyk recently spoke with NPR about this report from WHO on how to prevent drowning – its first comprehensive effort ever on how to tackle drowning as an issue for public health – as part of an interview that has been lightly edited for clarity. Please describe your work putting this report together – one that sets forth guidelines on how to do just that? This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. We had 139 countries that responded enthusiastically by volunteering their efforts towards understanding drowning better within their countries, which wasn’t an easy undertaking. We asked them to gather together up to 10 national stakeholders who work on different areas, like health and transport as well as education and social welfare – health being one. And then discuss drowning. Inevitably many would come away thinking “why are we discussing this?” And wondering “why was I invited by [the Department of] Health [to discuss this] issue.”
At first sight this may look like good news: however, further inspection reveals otherwise. In truth however, the more I consider what has transpired so far the clearer it all has become for me and those around me.
According to this report, 300,000 individuals die every year due to drowning. Yes. Absolutely. 300,000 deaths is probably an underestimation, since our data does not account for drowning deaths caused by floods and natural disasters such as earthquakes; or drowning deaths that happen as transport accidents (think boating accidents in Bangladesh and India or Southeast Asia causing deaths by going down.) These deaths don’t figure in our statistics because it is difficult to classify them correctly during disasters – often there is just an overall body count, without details regarding causes of death being provided by authorities. There’s research out recently showing that 75% of deaths during floods can be directly attributed to drowning; so we know this phenomenon affects many, yet don’t have strong statistics regarding it. Are people surprised when you refer to drowning as a public health concern? Yes. When I discuss drowning as an issue of public health, people look at me with disbelief; many remain unfamiliar with its significance and do not appreciate its magnitude. It remains an under-recognized topic. And this is precisely why progress was made on issues like vaccine program rollout and treating neonatal conditions more effectively; now injuries are one of the primary causes of mortality among children and young people, so framing this as a public health concern is imperative. Assuming drowning is indeed a public health crisis and issue, then WHO’s mandate would include it as such a report may bring change of perspective – that drowning should no longer be seen as inevitable and preventable. Accidents have long been seen as unavoidable events that happen randomly; but according to this report, accidents can often be avoided with proper precaution. According to it, however, most drowning deaths can be prevented and that most recommendations for drowning prevention can be cost-effectively implemented across various settings and circumstances. This really stands out amongst its peers: it offers impressively effective recommendations that are cost-efficient as well.
Although not inherently difficult, solving them does take practice and dedication.
Why are children vulnerable? Because they are active and independent. Furthermore, many don’t possess proper swimming and water safety knowledge so don’t know how to interact safely with water; also their risk assessment abilities haven’t fully developed yet. All this can lead to dangerous interactions with water; much of the drowning burden lies within Southeast Asia and Africa. Mothers tending their households, caring for multiple children at once without access to daycare or early childhood services or early learning programs; all while living among ponds and rivers in various communities. People depend on water bodies for drinking, cooking, washing and bathing — it’s an indispensable aspect of daily life. Unfortunately though, for young children who often visit these bodies of water unsupervised it also poses risks that must be considered when making decisions regarding them. How can prevention conversations without making parents feel guilty? Avoid saying, ‘you should do things differently or better” or asking “why wasn’t something done”. Simply taking measures like building play pens or barriers near the front of your house from locally available materials like bamboo or other types of wood can go a long way toward keeping children safe in your community. We encourage daycare services, particularly community-based daycare where one parent supervises multiple children during busy hours when other mothers may need help doing household tasks. No rocket science required! It doesn’t even need to be high tech! Fishing communities tend to experience high rates of drowning. Fisherman may spend their whole lives near or on lakes but may never learn how to swim – can we prevent such deaths by teaching people? African region [risk profiles] tends to target young male workers of working age. Our data on this is limited, yet what little there is points directly towards occupational risk (fishing and water transport are both high-risk occupations).
However, some do attempt to take matters into their own hands by engaging in illegal acts that involve drugs, arms and humans. The good thing is that by being open about their intentions they can avoid further embarrassments down the track
Small watercraft cover great distances without much safety equipment – day or night, across various types of weather – carrying people across vast stretches. What steps can be taken to decrease boat-related drowning fatalities? Before embarking from shore, always review weather alerts in order to gain a full picture of what the conditions will be on the water and during your excursion duration. Uganda developed a special mobile tracking service along the shores of Lake Victoria that sends regular text messages with weather forecast alerts to mobile tracking units. Communities advocate strongly for everyone leaving or returning, so search and rescue efforts can be deployed more promptly and life jackets on board are accessible when necessary. Empty two-liter plastic Coke bottles have proven themselves effective flotation devices; indeed they make for fantastic flotation solutions in some environments. Are swimming lessons possible using such methods? Absolutely. Over the past decade, remarkable community-based solutions have arisen over time. One such initiative originated in Bangladesh and quickly spread throughout other nations – using local ponds as swimming pools in their entirety. Design of this program was thoughtful; swimming instructors constructed bamboo scaffolding which they submerged into the pond to simulate safety features of standalone pools for an affordable solution. Vietnam recently established a big national program. Their aim was to teach 50% of children between [the ages of] 5-14 swimming and water safety skills by 2014. Of course, rural and remote parts of Vietnam don’t have pools to teach these lessons so portable pools were introduced – travel with swimming instructors for easy collapse/refill in all rural/remote communities before providing series of 10 weeks swimming lessons to these rural/remote communities.
However, one cannot deny its relevance in modern societies where modernity has brought with it new requirements of infrastructure development, while on top of it lies an ongoing desire for improvement through education and awareness raising campaigns. The key lies within individual decisions to change or adapt. For this to be achieved it requires not just knowledge but action being taken against those responsible – even though at times that action might come as part of an education policy or course structure but in reality can mean alteration to be implemented at home as well.
Not necessarily! Water safety education entails much more than teaching children butterfly strokes for 100 meters; rather it includes teaching survival techniques in water; such as how to float effectively when wearing clothing that gets caught, what steps to take if something snags, as well as CPR instruction to older children and adults. Absolutely. One of our recommendations revolves around bystander training and safe rescue and resuscitation techniques in remote communities, with limited resources. A CPR dummy, but there may also be water rescue tools created locally can all play their roles here. An integral component of water safety education is learning how to safely rescue from shore. There were reports of children playing together in water bodies and then becoming caught up in currents or submersed objects that caught hold, with another child jumping in to save the victim, leading to multiple fatalities as a result. I talked specifically about plastic bottles. Thailand has seen many communities string water bottles on ropes near lakes and rivers where people have struggled, giving people standing on shore a way of throwing bottles with rope. There was also the addition of long bamboo poles as an aid, in case anyone needed help from behind. Was anything unexpected found in your report? “Wow,” were some of the comments we heard from countries after hearing our feedback: “Wow, it appears as if we were really mistakingly targeting certain areas; for instance we didn’t realize we were targeting adolescents specifically or alcohol use specifically; yet all our activities focused on young children! You challenge your perceptions when setting priorities with budget allocation decisions or prioritization decision. That can be quite an eye-opener!
Once again, let’s be real: when is enough enough? Here, of all places.
What would you like to happen next? My hope for the report’s outcome is for more country collaboration and knowledge exchange between nations – this would enable countries to identify any gaps they need filling and then collaborate in filling them. Melody Schreiber is a journalist and editor of What We Didn’t Expect: Personal Stories About Premature Birth; follow her at Melodyschreiber.com on Bluesky!