1st World Drowning Prevention Day 2021 is going to be observed in 21 Community Radio Station & Community Visual Radio stations level in rural Bangladesh on 25 July, 2021 with technical cooperation from Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC).
In the meanwhile, community radio stations are preparing them for celebrating the 1st World Drowning Prevention Day 2021. World Drowning Prevention Day, declared through the April 2021 UN General Assembly Resolution A/75/L.76 “Global drowning prevention”, is held annually on 25 July. This global advocacy event serves as an opportunity to highlight the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities and offer life-saving solutions to prevent it. An estimated 235,600 people drown every year, and drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children aged 5-14 years. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells, domestic water storage vessels and swimming pools in low- and middle-income countries, with children and adolescents in rural areas disproportionately affected.
All stakeholders are invited to mark World Drowning Prevention Day – governments, UN agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and individuals – 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 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, hosting a global launch event and supporting national and local activities in countries and communities around the world.
Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid. Drowning outcomes are classified as death, morbidity and no morbidity. Agreed terminology is essential to describe the problem and to allow effective comparisons of drowning trends. Thus, this definition of drowning adopted by the 2002 World Congress on Drowning should be widely used.
Drowning is a leading killer. The latest WHO Global Health Estimates indicate that almost 236 000 people lost their lives to drowning in 2019. Just over 50% of these deaths occur among those aged under 30 years, and drowning is the sixth leading cause of death worldwide for children aged 5-14 years. Over 90% of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Drowning prevention interventions range from community-based solutions, such as day care for children and barriers controlling access to water, to effective national policies and legislation around water safety, including setting and enforcing boating, shipping and ferry regulations. Much more needs to be done to prevent drowning, and achieving commitments made under the Sustainable Development Goals will not be possible without addressing drowning prevention.
Over 80 percent of the people who die from drowning in Bangladesh are children. Drowning is one of the leading causes of child deaths in Bangladesh. Most of the child victims went to nearby water bodies while they were unattended. The rate of death from drowning was much higher in rural areas compared to the urban areas. Most of the deaths occurred in ponds and ditches near to their homes.
Ref: WHO
