Durban - Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), in South Africa, revealed that drowning claimed the lives of an estimated 2 403 people in 2019.
The theme of World Drowning Prevention Day, on Monday, invites the global community to “do one thing” to prevent drowning and save lives.
According to Dr Jill Fortuin, the executive director of Drowning Prevention at the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the NSRI’s one thing is educating South Africans to help themselves.
To mark World Drowning Prevention Day, initiatives such as Water Safety Education, Survival Swimming and deployment of Pink Rescue Buoys are some of the key programmes within the organisation.
“As one of the leading causes of death globally for children and young people aged 1 to 24 years and the third leading cause of injury-related deaths overall, drowning tragically claims more than 236 000 lives each year,” Fortuin said.
More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, with children under the age of 5 being at the highest risk. Fortuin said these deaths were frequently linked to daily, routine activities, such as bathing, collecting water for domestic use, travelling over water on boats or ferries, and through occupational activity, such as fishing and aquaculture.
The impacts of seasonal or extreme weather events – including monsoons – are also a frequent cause of drowning and are largely preventable through a number of interventions.
WHO recommends six evidence-based measures to prevent drowning, including installing barriers controlling access to water, training bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation, teaching school-aged children basic swimming and water safety skills, providing supervised daycare for children, setting and enforcing safe boating, shipping and ferry regulations and improving flood risk management, said Fortuin.
Examples of actions that can be taken include:
· Individuals can share drowning prevention and water safety advice with their families, friends and colleagues; sign up for swimming or water safety lessons, or support local drowning prevention charities and groups.
· Groups can host public events to share water safety information; launch water safety campaigns; or commit to developing or delivering new drowning prevention programmes, using recommended best practice interventions.
· Governments can develop or announce new drowning prevention policies, strategies, legislation, or investment; convene multi-sectoral roundtables or parliamentary discussions on drowning burden and solutions; and introduce or commit to supporting drowning prevention programming domestically or internationally.
The NSRI is a charity organisation that saves lives on South African waters – both coastal and inland. Their goal is to prevent drowning through rescue operations, education and prevention initiatives. The NSRI is totally reliant on donations and sponsorships. This enables them to do the work of saving lives, changing lives and creating futures.
If you would like to support us, please visit www.nsri.org.za for more information.
Daily News