Reports that hundreds of children have drowned in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam during the devastating floods have raised questions about why children in high-risk areas are still not getting access to the skills that could save their lives.
The sheer scale of the floods this year have drawn attention to a deeper problem of childhood drowning, which has been called the silent epidemic because deaths are rarely reported unless they happen during natural disasters.
That leaves thousands of deaths unrecorded and unnoticed, despite childhood drowning being the leading cause of death in children older than one in Asia.
In response to the latest crisis, drowning prevention experts have united to call for greater integration of survival swimming and drowning prevention programs into disaster risk reduction programs across Asia.
Global lifesaving body the International Life Saving Federation (ILS), Asian drowning prevention experts The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC) and the Royal Life Saving Society “Australia are calling for drowning to be recognised alongside the other health impacts of large-scale flooding.
“The widespread flooding devastating multiple countries in Asia is highlighting what ILS has long called a silent epidemic of child drowning across Asia, International Life Saving Federation’s Drowning Prevention Commissioner Justin Scarr said.
“Like other disaster risk reduction programs, drowning prevention has wider health implications outside the narrow timeframe of a natural disaster. Not only can it save lives during the immediate crisis, it equips communities to save countless children’s lives during everyday exposure to water bodies.
“We believe the large scale introduction of drowning prevention strategies into disaster risk reduction programs would save tens of thousands of lives each year, in disaster and in everyday life.
During the past decade, leading researchers at The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC) have documented epidemic childhood drowning rates across Asia. Together with local partners they have been implementing cost-effective, targeted drowning prevention strategies including crèche programs for infants and young children in Bangladesh and survival swimming lessons for school-aged children in Thailand, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
“We now know that drowning is the single leading killer of children after infancy, across much of Asia. We estimate between 200,000 – 280,000 children drown each year, The Alliance for Safe Children’s Technical Director Dr Michael Linnan said.
“Drowning has escaped attention for the simple reason that children don’t drown in hospitals but that is where child deaths get counted by the health systems in many countries in the region. If they don’t get counted, they are invisible to governments, invisible to donors and invisible to the UN and other agencies that drive the aid agenda.
“It costs very little to teach a child to swim and with our partners, Royal Life Saving Australia and the Center for Injury Prevention Research in Bangladesh, we have shown that it can be done in villages using ponds, with local village instructors. Those children who have learned have a 93% reduction in drowning risk. It is as effective for drowning as vaccination is for reducing measles deaths and is just as cost-effective.
Research conducted with Australian Government support is likely to provide a basis for the International Life Saving’s call for a rapid scale-up of child drowning prevention programs across Asia in the coming years.
“We know from the TASC research with UNICEF across theregion that those same survival swimming programs and crèches will help save lives during flooding. So after the flood waters recede we will be advocating on behalf of all the victims of childhood drowning to UN agencies, including the UNISDR, and NGOs who help build community resilience to disaster, Mr Scarr
said.
In the meantime, the ILS is issuing a general warning to communities impacted by flooding. Simple tips for protecting children from
drowning during flooding include:
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Close supervision of all children;
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Preventing school-aged children from playing in
flooding waterways; and
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Avoiding crossing deep or moving water.
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Avoid walking near street drainage, where
suction or displaced covers can create drowning hazard.
For more information or for interviews, please contact:
Justin Scarr
Drowning Prevention Commissioner
International Life Saving Federation
+61 408 434 011