Drowning prevention: Transforming global commitment into national action

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that in 2019, around 2,36,000 people died globally by drowning in water. Children are more prone to drowning, with more than half of the total drowning deaths occurring to children. 

Although this catastrophe affects almost every nation, more than 90% of the drowning cases take place in the developing and under-developed countries. The highest rate of drowning incidents occur in the Western Pacific, Southeast Asia, and Africa. 

Although communities take such deaths as mere fate, this is preventable just by building awareness and proper policy responses. 

In Bangladesh, drowning has been found as one of three leading causes of death among children where 53 children die every day, amounting to 19,247 deaths per year. Recent BBS data shows that deaths of under-five years old children caused by drowning is higher (9.7%) in rural areas compared to urban areas (7%).

Regardless of such deadly and daily facts, drowning is still not discussed enough among the global and national political leaders and thus remains unattended in terms of policy response and allocation of resources. In the history of 75 years of the United Nations, around 2,600 resolutions were passed but drowning was not considered. 

But this year on April 28, a UNGA resolution on global drowning prevention was adopted that establishes drowning as an issue of concern, recognised by all 193 member states. The historic resolution not only mandated the UN agencies to respond to the tested solutions of drowning prevention but also brought the independent states under an accountable framework to initiate policy response in the respective country context. 

Bangladesh has reasons to be proud as the resolution was introduced at the plenary session of the UNGA by the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima. She said, "We have reduced child mortality rates globally, but if we cannot bring death from drowning to 'zero,' our success in primary healthcare, and therefore, achievement of SDG 3 will remain unaccomplished". 

In that event, Ireland's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Geraldine Byrne Nason stated that, "As an island nation, Ireland knows well both the promise and risk that water presents. It is our immense pleasure to partner with the Government of Bangladesh – on the frontline of the fight against drowning – in sponsoring this initiative. 

This Resolution, and the first-ever World Drowning Prevention Day that was celebrated on July 25, are a moment to highlight the immediate need for strategic and significant international action to save lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths."

Nations and communities across the globe have observed the first-ever global drowning prevention day 2021 with the theme "Anyone can drown, no one should" on the 25th July. The observance of the day creates the opportunity to bring the government agencies, development actors, CSOs, and NGOs together to raise awareness among the communities and remind the government to take actions to engage all concerned stakeholders. 

In Bangladesh, the global drowning prevention day 2021 was celebrated under the leadership of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) engaging a wide range of health officials from across the country including representatives of WHO, Unicef, NGOs, CSOs, international NGOs, development partners, and media where the speakers at large unanimously recommended the following.

• To form a national coordination mechanism led by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS);

• To approve the proposed drowning prevention strategy following a thorough examination of the current national context and the global call for action;

• To examine the possible engagement of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and Bangladesh Shishu Academy; 

• To Strengthen national surveillance to track the drowning incidences;

• To widen the scope of Bangladesh Swimming Federation to deliver swimming and water safety lessons; and

• To conduct a third nation-wide survey engaging the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Under the current scope of WHO, drowning has been considered under the non-communicable disease control segment. But if the drowning prevention interventions are thoroughly examined, it would be evident that most of the interventions do not fall under the jurisdiction or scope of the department of health, which creates problems at the country level. Frugal innovations of drowning prevention, designed to save children from drowning should be dealt with multifaceted efforts. 

The UN resolution on Global Drowning Prevention has created the scope for the global development and political leaders to engage in the discussions and formulate an affordable solution to reduce the drowning epidemic without which the majority of the targets of SDGs relating to child mortality cannot be achieved. 

Such a landmark UN resolution on global drowning prevention will help to bring the member states under an accountability framework so that they will adopt policies and allocate resources at the national level for the effective implementation of drowning prevention interventions.

Drowning prevention interventions tested in Bangladesh context such as ensuring that young children are supervised around water; barriers such as playpens, doors, and covers are used to keep toddlers safe from open water in the home; and the school going children receive basic water safety lessons including providing fastest responses to drowning survivors in an emergency basis can be replicated in other countries having similar geography and context. 

Drowning prevention also helps to elevate development agenda and growth and maximise state's investment. For example, drowning prevention initiatives will directly contribute to reducing the rate of deaths of children under five and help to achieve the government's commitment to reduce all preventable deaths by 2035.  

More importantly, the implementation of such interventions may create scopes for women's social and economic empowerment through their engagement in the implementation of the interventions such as running the daycare facilities or transferring lifesaving skills of swimming.

Now it is time for the governments to translate the global commitment into national policy and take actions through the adoption of drowning prevention strategies. That may include region-specific guidance with the enactment of water safety laws in the health, education, transportation, and disaster risk reduction sectors and also ensuring their effective enforcement.

The writer is a policy activist and can be reached at [email protected].

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.