Drowning is the leading cause of death in Bangladesh, for children under five as it claims the lives of more than 30 children every day.
The drowning death toll exceeds 10,000 child deaths per year, according to the report by Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research (CIPRB), and the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), released on Wednesday.
These organizations have supported a drowning prevention program in Bangladesh since 2012.
CIPRB and icddr,b have enrolled more than 70,000 children in the program's community creches, which provide supervision to children while parents are working or otherwise occupied.
Because of the progress made in establishing these community creches and monitoring child injury deaths, Bangladesh is a key example in the global fight against child drowning.
This week, Bloomberg Philanthropies is hosting a drowning prevention meeting in Dhaka, bringing together international organizations like the World Health Organization, researchers from Makerere University in Uganda, and a delegation from Vietnam representing that country's Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MoLISA).
Participants will strategize about drowning prevention efforts and learn from each other to share best practices. The Vietnamese delegation, that is also working to implement a drowning prevention program—supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies—will see, first-hand from the Bangladesh partners, how swim-safe activities can be sustainably implemented.
In a statement, Kelly Larson, drowning prevention lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies said: “We are encouraged by the work in Bangladesh to reduce childhood drowning.”
“We are optimistic that the program model can be replicated in other countries and hope the efforts in Bangladesh will be continued with the support of the national government for years to come.”
The Drowning Prevention Partnership, which is coordinated by the international development consultancy, Synergos, is currently engaging stakeholders across sectors and Ministries to inform a thoughtful and effective model for sustainability and national scaling-up of the program to ensure all children under the age of five have access to affordable creches.
The report also reveals that globally, drowning claims the lives of at least 322,000 people each year, with more than 90% of these deaths occurring in low-and middle-income countries. Nearly 40% of drowning deaths are among those under 15 years old, while children under five years old are at greatest risk.