Johannesburg - A neglected public health threat is claiming the lives of 372 000 people each year, and is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in children.
Just in time for the festive season as revellers take to beach resorts with their families, the World Health Organisation recently released its first Global Report on Drowning, highlighting the danger and far-reaching implications of the under-reported occurrence of drowning.
“The estimated death toll is all the more alarming because official data categorisation methods for drowning exclude intentional drowning deaths (suicide or homicide) and drowning deaths caused by flood disasters and water transport incidents,” the report stated.
The report purports that while there has been some success globally in focussing attention on drowning prevention, prevention efforts have mainly targeted recreational settings in high-income countries – not the day-to-day settings in low- and middle-income countries where the vast majority of drownings occurs.
In Bangladesh, drowning now accounts for 43 percent of deaths among children aged one to four years old.
“Worldwide, males are twice as likely to down as females. In the Western Pacific Region, children aged five to 14 years old die more frequently from drowning than from any other cause,” the report added.
Children under 12 months old are also particularly vulnerable.
“(They are)… relatively immobile and entirely dependent on caregivers. They can drown very quickly and in very little water, and in water containers that may not be perceived as risks (for example, in a bucket or a toilet),” it continued.
Teenagers aren’t exempt either – according to the report, they tend to be less supervised and are more likely to engage in risky behaviour around water, including consuming alcohol.
Lifesaving SA’s Drowning Prevention director Dhaya Sewduth said that this country did not fair too well against the rest of the world in incidents of drowning and that a lot more could be done to educate people about water safety.
“Unfortunately, it hasn’t been easy getting reliable statistics on deaths caused by drowning because we rely on the South African Police Service (SAPS) database which is not easily accessible and often not updated,” he said.
“Recently in KwaZulu-Natal, we were aware – only through voluntary groups – of the large number of drownings. In Gauteng alone, in the first quarter of the year, there were about six or seven incidents of drowning.”
He said that the organisation, together with the Medical Research Council (MRC), had conducted a study published in 2007 that showed that there were more deaths by drowning inland rather than in the coastal areas.
“That could be attributed to the larger number of voluntary lifesaving clubs in the coastline whereas inland, there are no guards manning the rivers after heavy rainfalls or flooding.
“Drowning is the second-highest cause of fatalities in the country after road accidents and we believe a range of departments can do more in educating people,” he said.
Sewduth said that the Department of Basic Education had to make sure teachers travelling from inland areas to the coastline for school trips with children were well prepared and vigilant for stops made to the beaches, and that the fishing industry also had to equip its employees in terms of lessons in swimming and first aid.
The report also said that drowning could be prevented through targeted prevention strategies, improved community infrastructure, research and appropriate policies and legislation.
The Star