Desk Report
Publish: 24 Jul 2021, 11:03 pm
Representational Image
Drowning is now a leading cause
of death for children aged under five in many countries, the UN health agency
said Friday.
Around 2.5 million people died by
drowning in the decade to 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, as it
set out a series of simple measures to help reduce the "entirely a preventable cause of death."
Around 60% of all drowning deaths
were among those under the age of 30, with the highest rates among children
aged under five, the WHO said ahead of the first-ever World Drowning Prevention
Day, which falls on Sunday.
"The shocking numbers
included an estimated 236,000 people in 2019 alone who lost their lives due to
drowning," Dr David Meddings, from the WHO's Social Determinants of Health
department, told the media.
Flooding-related fatalities and
deaths due to water transport accidents and intentional drownings are not
included in the overall statistics, the UN agency said. "The exact rate of
mortality might be much higher."
The decline in the death rates of
children aged under five from all causes over the past 40 years had masked the
residual problem of deaths due to drowning, David said. "Drowning is now a
leading cause of death for children under the age of five, in many, many
countries."
Drowning was the leading cause of
death for under-fives in China and the second-biggest in the US and France, he
added. "In Bangladesh, an estimated 40 children died from drowning every
day in 2016 alone."
However, drowning rates in low-
and middle-income countries are more than three times higher than in
high-income nations.
The WHO said drowning
disproportionately affected poor and marginalized communities which have the
fewest resources to adapt to the risks around them.
However, simple steps could
prevent many deaths, such as installing barriers around wells, providing safe
places for children to play away from water, and teaching youngsters basic
swimming and water safety skills, David said.
Greater training in safe rescue
and resuscitation techniques would also help people to assist anyone who is
drowning.
Enforcing safe shipping loading
and ferry regulations, and improving flood risk management, are two other
interventions recommended by the WHO.
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