Status of drowning in South-East Asia: Country reports
Overview
Drowning is a significant public health problem. WHO has defined drowning as the “process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid”. Drowning can be either fatal or non-fatal. Data from the Global Health Estimates 2019 revealed that an estimated 235 642 people died from drowning globally. Worldwide, the highest drowning mortality rates are among children aged 1–4 years, followed by children aged 5–9 years. Over half of the world’s drowning cases occur in the WHO’s South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
In 2019, over 70 000 people died of drowning in the South-East Asia Region. The people of the Region show diversity in their interaction with water bodies, increasing the risk factors of drowning. Drowning specifically affects children and young adults and is a leading cause of death for this age group.
National efforts on drowning can prevent fatal and non-fatal death and contribute towards achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty reduction, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities and climate action, in every country.
To address this problem, WHO and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) began to develop the first[1]ever regional status reports on drowning prevention within the South-East Asia Region in 2019. All SE Asia Region Member States, except the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, participated in a series of national consultative processes to develop this report. These consultations were multisectoral with contributions from sectors concerned with drowning prevention such as education, health, police, Coast Guard, maritime safety, disaster risk management, transport, civil society organizations and others.
This report follows the WHO’s Global Report on Drowning (2014) and the follow-up resource Preventing Drowning: an implementation guide (2017). This is a supplementary publication to the Regional Status Report on Drowning in South-East Asia 2021 with specific country focus. It is aligned with the 10 WHO recommendations (six selected and four cross-cutting strategies) on drowning prevention. The strategies focus on having strong national mechanisms, and the success of downing prevention hinges on the implementation of drowning prevention strategies.
The report provides snapshots from the countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region that show the national situation of drowning prevention in terms of burden, institutional management, strategy and targets, legislation, data sources and interventions. The report is also supported by various success stories from the countries to encourage implementation of best practices.
The report recommends several key actions, namely designation of a lead agency coordination body, development and implementation of national water safety plans with national indicators for drowning prevention, formalization of multisectoral mechanisms, documentation and sharing of knowledge gained in drowning prevention efforts. It also calls for a comprehensive review of drowning prevention legislation, evaluation of intervention plans for drowning prevention and strengthen data systems that capture drowning incidents while improving the availability and quality of reporting.
The findings and recommendations would assist and support countries in advocating for drowning prevention and in developing country-specific policies and strategies for meaningfully addressing drowning. The implementation of the recommendations should lead to a significant reduction in both fatal and non-fatal drowning cases in the Region.
