Staff Reporter :
Over 12,000 children (1-14 years old) die from drowning every year in Bangladesh – it means on average, some 32 children drown every day in the country.
Notably, around 90% of these cases are not registered with police stations.
Aminur Rahman, deputy executive director of Centre for Injury Prevention and Research (CIPRB), revealed these findings of a recent research at a press briefing on Thursday.
The research was jointly conducted by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Johns Hopkins University, and CIPRB.
The research report said around 80% of the children drowned in a pond or waterbody located within 20 metres from their home.
Lack of supervision, exposure to dangerous water bodies, lack of education, and poverty are mostly to be blamed for these drownings, said Aminur Rahman.
Most drownings occur between 9am to 1pm as this is the time when the wives of the houses are busy with household work, he added.
The CIPRB deputy executive director continued: “Drownings are on the rise due to heavy rainfall and floods in Bangladesh. The government has taken initiatives to prevent these incidents but the ministries of education, women and children affairs, and social welfare should be involved in these programs.”
According to the research, of the total children related accidents, many were drowning incidents – 36% in April, 56% in May, 82% in June, and 86% in July.
Around 359,000 people die from drowning annually and 97% of these deaths occur in low and middle income countries, as stated by a World Health Organization (WHO) report.
