WHO Report on Drowning Prevention in Asia-Pacific

WHO on 23rd July launched its first Regional Status Report on Drowning Prevention in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. This report said that nearly two-thirds of all global deaths due to drowning occur in the Asia Pacific region.

 

Highlights

  • Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury and death worldwide and it accounts for 7% of all injury-related deaths.
  • This report by WHO states that Middle and low income countries account for more than 90% of all the unintentional drowning deaths in the world. Also over 50% of the world’s total drowning occurs in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions.
  • In 48 of the 85 countries which have data on drowning, it is among the top five causes of death for children who are under the 15 years of age.
  • Drowning accounts for 75% of all deaths during flood disasters. Many countries in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions are vulnerable to this form of disaster.
  • These reports provide knowhow’s related to status of water safety and drowning prevention n each of the regions.
  • This report shows a clear picture of the problems and the efforts that are underway address drowning related morbidity and mortality.
  • In the year 2019, more than 1,44,000 people had drowned in the Asia Pacific region which accounts for 61% of all global drowning deaths.
  • Around 70,000 and 74,000 deaths in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions respectively occurred due to drowning. Of the 70,000 drowning related deaths more than 33% were among children who were aged less than 15 years.
  • On an average, men were more likely to drown than women.

 

Conclusion

Through, strong leadership, coordination and ongoing planning, evaluation and monitoring can drowning in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions be reduced.


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