Drowning deaths decline in Western Pacific, urgent action still needed: WHO

MANILA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 84,000 people drown each year in the Western Pacific region, with many of these deaths occurring in children and young people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) data released on Saturday.

The WHO Western Pacific said that drowning is currently the leading cause of death for children aged five to 14 years in the region.

"Compared to the rest of the world, the Western Pacific bears the heaviest burden of drowning deaths, comprising 30 percent of the global total," said Saia Ma'u Piukala, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

On Saturday, the WHO launched the first-ever Global status report on drowning prevention 2024, highlighting the ongoing global challenge of drowning and providing strategies for action.

The report said the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia account for the greatest number of drowning deaths, 84,000 and 83,000, respectively, while the African region has the highest drowning death rate of 5.6 per 100,000 population.

The report, which builds on the last two decades of advocacy and evidence on drowning prevention, details the scale of global drowning fatalities and progress made in advancing strategies and actions to reduce drowning around the world.

The report showed that the rate of deaths from drowning dropped by 38 percent between the year 2000 and 2021.

However, despite this progress, Piukala said the number of drowning deaths remains unacceptably high, with more than 300,000 fatalities in 2021.

According to the report, drowning impacts children and young people, and more than nine in 10 deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.

WHO is calling for action at all levels to prevent drowning.

Simple yet effective measures for individuals include supervising children at all times when they are in or near water, enrolling in swimming and water safety classes, avoiding alcohol near water to ensure alertness in emergencies, wearing a lifejacket when boating and checking the weather conditions beforehand, learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation to save lives in critical situations.