Drowning has been the cause of over 2.5 million preventable deaths in the last decade and is the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death worldwide. World Drowning Prevention Day, hosted on July 25 by the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to raise awareness of drowning as a global health issue.
It has been nearly 10 years since the WHO Global Report on Drowning was released in 2014.The new UN-recognized World Drowning Prevention Day was established as part of a historic resolution on global drowning prevention in 2021. This year marks the adoption of this resolution by the 76th World Health Assembly, which urges all stakeholders to accelerate action toward drowning prevention by 2029 in collaboration with the United Nations and the WHO.
Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death worldwide. Children face the greatest risk of drowning. Risk factors include access to water, lack of supervision and swimming skills, lack of barriers and safety measures, water hazards and weather conditions. Males are at higher risk than females, at least in part due to increased exposure, riskier behavior, and alcohol use.
While the WHO estimates that 235,600 people died from drowning in 2019, this is likely an underestimate because it excludes drownings due to flood-related disasters and associated with accidents while traveling on water. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. More than half of all reported drowning deaths are in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions, reflecting countries with high rates and high population sizes such as Bangladesh, India, China, and Vietnam.
This year’s World Drowning Prevention Day promotes evidence-based interventions countries can adopt to reduce the risk of drowning, such as community-based actions, such as bystander training, swimming and water safety education for youth, and policy-level interventions like flood risk management and safe boating regulations.
To learn more about drowning and drowning prevention, explore the resources below, all of which are available in our online repository:
Selected Resources
- Fact Sheet: Drowning
- Tracing the Emergence of Drowning Prevention on the Global Health and Development Agenda: A Policy Analysis
- World Drowning Prevention Day Guidance for Organizations
- WHO Technical Report: Preventing Drowning: an Implementation Guide
- Global Report on Drowning: Preventing A Leading Killer