Deaths by drowning demand policy attention

We are alarmed to learn that as many as 2,155 deaths have occurred countrywide in the past two years due to drowning—and that 83.5 percent of the victims were children—as per a report by the Society for Media and Suitable Human-communication Techniques (SoMaSHTe). However, perhaps what is equally concerning is that the media apparently reported only 1,426 of these deaths. This means that not only are incidents of drowning persisting—especially in rural areas, where water bodies of different sizes are in abundance—but people are also still largely unaware of the threat due to inadequate reporting.

Unfortunately, Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of under-five drowning. This is not shocking, since children under the age of five cannot be expected to comprehend the dangers of going near water bodies. As the aforementioned report also found out, 80 percent of the under-five victims drowned within 20 metres from their homes. There is also the matter of flooding during the monsoon season, which is a time when drowning incidents become even more frequent. Given that the United Nations, on April 28 last year, felt the need to dedicate a day to raise awareness about drowning globally (July 25), we can understand how this issue has been affecting other countries as well.

Although the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has reportedly developed a detailed, pro-forma project, which will enable institutional supervision of children under five through 8,000 community-based day care centres, the Tk 309 crore project is currently awaiting approval from Ecnec. Given the threat, this needs to be fast-tracked. Meanwhile, we cannot just put the issue of children's drowning on the back burner and wait for this one project to take off.

We would like to draw the government's attention to the frequent incidents of death by drowning, and urge relevant authorities to begin building awareness regarding the issue among those in affected areas. Families that have young members, especially in rural areas, must be informed about the dangers of letting children roam too close to water bodies. Younger children must be monitored carefully, while older children should be taught to swim safely. Local government bodies should take the initiative to conduct awareness drives if we are to see a decrease in drowning deaths.