World Health Organization puts drowning on the agenda

by MODE, ignore | December 29, 2014 7:07 pm

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The Lifesaving Society, a Canadian volunteer and charitable organization which works to prevent drowning and water-related injuries, is collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) in an effort to draw attention to water safety after the latter’s recently released global report on drowning.

This is the first time the World Health Organization (WHO) has devoted a report exclusively to drowning. According to the report, which looks at all types of water-related deaths (e.g. lakes, rivers, and streams, swimming pools, floods, etc.), an estimated 372,000 people drown worldwide each year, among them more than 63,000 children under the age of five. Drowning is one of the 10 leading causes of death for children in every region of the world.

The WHO report identifies drowning as a vastly neglected area of public health and calls for a scaling-up of comprehensive efforts and resources targeted at drowning prevention including:

• global partnerships;

• greater engagement and collaboration among stakeholders at all levels;

• national drowning prevention plans;

• improved data collection and further research; and

• implementation of effective prevention strategies.

Each year more than one million Canadians participate in The Life Saving Society’s training programs, including Water Smart public education, drowning prevention research, safety management, and lifesaving sport, which aim to prevent drowning and water-related injuries.

The Lifesaving Society supports the development of a co-ordinated national drowning prevention plan targeting communities at risk and is committed to building an inclusive and dynamic coalition to produce and implement it.

To read more about the WHO’s report on drowning, visit www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/drowning-prevention/en/[2].

Source URL: https://www.poolspamarketing.com/trade/world-health-organization-puts-drowning-on-the-agenda/

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