Health Talk: Deaths due to drowning a public health concern

WHO warns 7.2M could drown by 2050 if trends continue, despite a 38% drop in global drowning deaths since 2000. Urgent action needed to save lives.

New Delhi: Drowning remains a major public health concern globally with a recent report published by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) saying at least 7.2 million people, mainly children, could die by drowning by the year 2050, if current trends continue.

38,000 cases of drowning were reported in India in 2023, says government data (Representative file photo)

This is when the UN health body’s report mentions there has been a reduction in the rate of deaths globally over the years.

In fact, the report reveals a 38% drop in the global drowning death rate since 2000, terming it a major global health achievement. However, more needs to be done to prevent further deaths.

WHO estimates say at least 30 people drown every hour and 300000 people drowned to death in 2021; almost half of all drowning deaths occur among people below the age of 29 years, and a quarter occur among children under five. Children without adult supervision are at an especially high risk of drowning.

“The significant decline in drowning deaths since 2000 is great news and proof that the simple, practical interventions that WHO recommends work,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, during the report launch. “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, according to the report. At the global level, nine in 10 drowning deaths take place in low and middle-income countries. The WHO European Region saw a 68% drop in the rate of drowning deaths 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,” read the WHO statement.

India also launched ‘Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention’, last year. According to the government data, 38000 cases of drowning were reported in the country in 2023, which is a significant number and to prevent these cases, Union ministry of health and family welfare has initiated programmes to generate mass awareness, especially in rural areas that primarily report cases.

The framework document focuses on promoting multi-sectoral collaboration, strengthening public awareness of drowning through strategic communications, establishing national and state drowning prevention action plan and researching to generating evidence to inform contextually relevant action for drowning prevention form critical action pillars for creating a safer environment around water bodies and saving countless lives.

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.

Deaths due to drowning can be prevented, if concerted efforts are made. As the WHO report sums up, “…drowning prevention requires a coordinated, whole-of-society response. Through increased collaboration and investment, those most vulnerable to drowning can be protected to ensure the promising trends currently observed are experienced uniformly and equitably.”