The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a global call to action to prevent drowning today, urging people to "do one thing." Tragically, more than 236 000 lives are lost annually to drowning, making it one of the leading causes of death worldwide for children and young people aged 1–24, and the third leading cause of injury-related deaths overall. This evening, the Jet d'Eau in Geneva will be illuminated blue in honor of World Drowning Prevention Day, and similar events will take place in cities around the world.
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Children under the age of five are at the greatest risk of drowning, and more than 90% of drowning deaths occur in low and middle income countries. Bathing, getting water for household use, traveling over water in boats or ferries, and fishing are all examples of activities that have been linked to these tragic deaths. Drownings are also common as a result of the effects of seasonal or extreme weather events like monsoons, but these can often be avoided through various interventions.
The number of people who die by drowning each year is in the hundreds of thousands. "Most of these deaths can be prevented by implementing low-cost, evidence-based solutions," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. As a global call to action to stop drowning, cities around the world are lighting up their landmarks in blue light today. Can we please stop people from drowning?
"At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we are committed to advancing strategies that will reduce the worldwide toll of drowning on the public health system. Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, said, "Today, we join our partners around the world in recognizing World Drowning Prevention Day and taking action." Often, we have a good idea of how to prevent people from drowning and putting that knowledge into practice. We've created resources and guidelines to aid governments in implementing solutions; by working together, we can save countless lives.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends six evidence-based measures to prevent drowning, including the installation of barriers controlling access to water, the training of bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation, the teaching of basic swimming and water safety skills to school-aged children, the provision of supervised day care for children, the setting and enforcement of safe boating, shipping, and ferry regulations, and the improvement of flood risk management.
This year's World Drowning Prevention Day theme encourages people all over the world to "do one thing" to reduce the risk of drowning. Possible courses of action include the following examples:
People can help prevent drowning by talking about the topic with their loved ones and coworkers, taking swimming or water safety classes, and donating to organizations that promote water safety and awareness.
Groups can commit to creating and delivering new drowning prevention programmes using recommended best practice interventions by hosting public events at which they share water safety information, launch water safety campaigns, or both.
Governments can introduce or commit to supporting domestic or international drowning prevention programming by creating or announcing new policies, strategies, legislation, or investment to prevent drowning. They can also host multisectoral roundtables or parliamentary discussions on the burden of drowning and potential solutions.
Several nations have established anti-drowning initiatives. The government of Bangladesh has launched a 3-year plan to reduce the number of child drownings in the country. The government will assume responsibility for the 2,500 daycares established and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies since 2012, and will also add another 5,500 daycares to the program to oversee 200,000 youngsters aged one to five.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) collaborates with organizations like Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, in addition to other UN agencies, to promote awareness of the dangers of drowning and its avoidance.
As a group, we are helping Member States develop and launch programs to reduce the risk of drowning in the wake of published best practices. Uganda and Ghana are receiving funding to investigate the causes of drowning, and Bangladesh and Vietnam have identified and scaled up cost-effective approaches to drowning prevention among children with the help of Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released numerous reports and guidelines aimed at preventing deaths by drowning. Keeping a major killer in check: the 2014 Global Report on Downing. The World Health Organization (WHO) published updated recommendations for best practices in May 2022 regarding the delivery of day care, the acquisition of fundamental swimming and water safety skills, and the delivery of effective rescue and resuscitation instruction.
Supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative to Prevent Drowning, anti-drowning efforts in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Viet Nam include daycare supervision, survival swimming instruction for kids aged 6–15, and improved data collection.
The United Nations General Assembly passed its first resolution to combat drowning in 2021. The resolution calls on WHO to take the lead in organizing World Drowning Prevention Day and coordinating related efforts across the United Nations.
