BSS, Dhaka :
More than 32 children between age one and four years drown a day in Bangladesh, claiming 12,000 lives every year.
Drowning is the leading cause of death among 1-4 year old children in Bangladesh and every year, more than 12,000 children of this age group die due to drowning, this was revealed at the launching ceremony of a project in Sasakawa auditorium of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh ( ICDDR’B) here on Thursday.
Bloomberg Philanthropies is launching the project titled ‘Saving of Lives from Drowning (SoLiD) aiming to prevent and reduce the burden of children Health and Family Welfare Secretary MM Neazuddin, ICDDR’B executive director Dr Adnan Hyder, Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Deen Mohammad Noorul Huq, director of public health of Bloomberg Philanthropies Dr Kelly Henning and executive director of the Centre for Injury Prevention, Health Development and Research, Bangladesh(CIPRB) Prof Fazlur Rahman, among others, addressed the function.
Dr 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.”
Other speakers said lack of supervision, high exposure to water hazards, lack of education and poverty are some major risk factors for childhood drowning in Bangladesh.
In flood-prone Bangladesh, drowning is the single leading cause of death among children aged 1-17, having overtaken pneumonia and diarrhea, they added.
The 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.
