Country’s mortality rate due to drowning is on the rise among children.
The death of one among four children occurs due to drowning in Bangladesh. The incidents of drowning mostly increase during floods. Eighty-seven percent drowning of the children takes place when most areas of the country are submerged by flood waters.
Unicef and The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC) recently carried out a survey among the children aged between one and 17.
According to the survey, approximately 46 children die every day due to drowning in Bangladesh with yearly death toll in the incidents reaching around 17,000.
The survey, conducted in Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, shows that the children of Asia region live under a high risk of death due to drowning and road accidents.
According to an independent survey of the Unicef, creating social awareness, giving training on how to swim and installing bamboo-made fences around the ponds can significantly reduce deaths in drowning.
A report by the Health Ministry’s bulletin of 2013 also says that cases of drowning of children between the ages of 1 to 18 top the chart. In 2012 it was 22.7 percent while in 2011 it was 22.8 percent. The number of children drowning far outstripped the deaths from measles, bronchitis, diphtheria and tuberculosis.
Child health experts said one of the objectives of the MDGs is reducing infant mortality. But the number of drowning is a huge obstacle to attaining that goal.
People concerned feel that increased parental awareness, capacity building of parents, effective social and family security, lessons in swimming, etc could bring down the mortality rate.
Although these deaths occur throughout the year, its incidence is highest during monsoon. The chance of such deaths increases with the proximity of water bodies to the household.
Children playing in the inflated rivers, canals, ponds, ditches and other water bodies die, frequently.
Apart from this, a lot of children die where settlements are near the river or ocean. During full and blue moon the waters rise. Many children die then. Besides, children also die during tidal surges, because children are the least capable of coping with those adversities.
In the tidal surge of 1970 of the 1.2 million people died, half were children. In the 1991 tidal surge the proportion was the same.
Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Deen Mohammad Noorul Huq said mortality rate due to drowning is rising gradually in the country with a figure proportionally higher among children.
The death of one among four children occurs due to drowning in Bangladesh, he said adding the incidents of drowning mostly increase during floods.
In Bangladesh, child mortality rate has decreased significantly due to sincere efforts of the government, NGOs and development partners, he said. “If we want to reach the target of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)-4 by 2015, we must prevent drowning of children.”
Experts said conducting awareness campaign, increasing knowledge and efficiency among the parents for looking after their children, ensuring effective family and social security as well as giving training on how to swim could reduce the children’s death risk.
