World Drowning Prevention Day 2023
25 July 2023
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Drowning has caused over 2.5 million deaths in the last decade. The overwhelming majority of these deaths (90%) happen in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, the highest drowning rates occur among children aged 1–4 years, followed by children aged 5–9 years.
The human, social and economic toll of these losses is intolerably high, and entirely preventable.
The implementation of evidence-based, low-cost drowning prevention interventions can drastically reduce risk of drowning. These include:
- installing barriers controlling access to water
- providing safe places away from water such as crèches for pre-school children with capable childcare
- teaching swimming, water safety and safe rescue skills
- training bystanders in safe rescue and resuscitation
- setting and enforcing safe boating, shipping and ferry regulations
- improving flood risk management
World Drowning Prevention Day, declared in April 2021 by United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/273, is held annually on 25 July. Through this global event, we remember lives lost due to drowning and aim to increase knowledge on safety in and around water.
Call to action
Drowning doesn’t have a single cause, or a single solution. But it can be prevented.
In recognition of this, for World Drowning Prevention Day in 2022, the World Health Organization called on stakeholders to “Do one thing” to improve the safety of people in and around water. Guidance was offered on what individuals, groups, and governments could do – and the global response was tremendous.
Some governments started the process of developing national strategies for drowning prevention. Groups hosted public awareness events and launched water safety campaigns. Countless individuals took action by learning and sharing new skills (swimming, safe rescue and resuscitation), or providing support to a drowning prevention group or activity.
One problem, many solutions.
Building on this momentum, WHO now asks countries and partners to respond to our call to action for global drowning prevention:
What do we mean by this?
If you are not yet involved in drowning prevention then “Do one thing”. There’s so much that can be done, whether you are an individual, a group (organization or community) or a government.
If you’ve already started to work in your area on drowning prevention, then “Improve one thing”. There’s always an opportunity to engage a broader range of partners, identify parts of your efforts that are not working as well as they should, or connect with a high-risk group for drowning that your efforts haven’t reached yet.
And if you are deeply engaged with drowning prevention and have a mature programme or a portfolio of programmes, then “Add one thing”. Look for ways of adding to your portfolio of action, tackle a new part of the drowning context in your setting, or broaden your efforts to reduce drowning in other settings. There’s always more that can be done.
Taking action
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Individuals can:
Do one thing.- Share our campaign material
- Enroll for swimming and water safety classes
- Support local drowning prevention groups
- Share water safety advice in your community
- Advocate for the benefits of improving your swimming and water safety skills based on personal experience
- Become an active member of a local drowning prevention group
- Expand your knowledge on drowning prevention through reviewing resources on the WHO website
- Hold a community event to commemorate World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July
RNLI, Nihab Rahman
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Groups can:
Do one thing.- Host public events to share water safety information
- Launch a drowning prevention campaign
- Commit to delivering new drowning prevention programmes
- Adapt and expand existing drowning prevention programmes
- Identify new partners for collaboration
- Take time to evaluate and reflect on current efforts, considering how these could be improved
- Address local drowning prevention priorities which are currently neglected
- Support the work of other organizations and communities nationally
- Contribute to regional and global drowning prevention efforts
WPRO / WHO
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Governments can:
Do one thing.- Develop or announce new drowning prevention policies, strategies or legislation
- Convene national multisectoral roundtables on drowning and its prevention
- Commit to supporting drowning prevention programming domestically or internationally
- Establish evaluation mechanisms for new and existing drowning prevention efforts
- Strengthen advocacy for government-led drowning prevention efforts
- Upscale existing, successful drowning prevention programmes
- Coordinate a national campaign to commemorate World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July
- Share key successes in government-led drowning prevention initiatives
- Investigate how international drowning prevention efforts can be supported from your country.
Resources
This guidance is meant to help inspire and plan activities and events, to
mark “World Drowning Prevention Day”, on 25 July.
It provides background information...
Event
For social media, WHO recommends that the hashtag #DrowningPrevention be used, including for World #DrowningPrevention Day.
Going blue for drowning prevention
To mark World Drowning Prevention Day on 25 July, cities around the world are invited to illuminate notable landmarks in blue light to draw attention to drowning as a leading cause of death.
Every city is invited to have one or more notable landmarks illuminated in blue light during the evening of 25 July. Landmarks near water or which have symbolic meaning for the city are especially encouraged.
Make sure to engage with local media in advance of World Drowning Prevention Day to communicate the meaning of this symbolic gesture. Media coverage on the purpose of this gesture is important for advocacy. We also invite you to document the evening on social media using the hashtag #drowningprevention.
Drowning Prevention Auckland
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Water Safety Scotland
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WHO
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Water Safety Ireland
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Lifesaving Victoria
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