Child Drowning

Proportion of drowing per year
out of 10 (76 to 78 per cent) fatal drowning events were unreported in the health information system.
Figure 3 shows a similar situation in Cambodia.
Figure 3: Drowning among children 0–17 years old in Cambodia, by cases presented or reported to a
health-care facility, 2006
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
95%
5%
Immediately fatal
90%
10%
Subsequently fatal
Not seen or reported at
a health care facility
Seen or reported at a
health care facility
Source: Survey data from the Cambodia Accident and Injury Survey (CAIS), 2006.
Figure 3 shows that in Cambodia the great majority of drowning was not seen or reported to a healthcare
facility, whether immediately fatal or subsequently fatal. 5 Field work for the survey, which used a
nationally representative sample of 67,500 households, was done in 2006. Less than 10 per cent of fatal
drowning was seen at or reported to a health-care facility.
In Cambodia, similar to both Thailand and Bangladesh, drowning caused about half of all fatal injury in
children. Missing most of the cases of fatal drowning results in marked under-reporting of both fatal
drowning and all fatal injury.
The survey interviewers in the different countries investigated why drowning deaths were not reported.
The responses indicated a lack of perceived benefits for reporting these deaths, and significant
disincentives for doing so. The reasons given were practical:
Due to the immediacy of death from drowning (less than five minutes), most children were
already dead when discovered. Therefore there was no reason to seek medical care.
In several countries, medically unattended deaths require an autopsy, with the person
reporting the death bearing financial responsibility for the examination. Given the poverty
of most parents, this was a major disincentive.
In some countries, religion and culture require burial to be carried out on the same day as
the death. The requirement to report the death was viewed as a hindrance to completing
the ceremony in time and likely to delay the burial.
Generally, respondents preferred not to contact the authorities, citing a fear that they
might be blamed for the child’s death.
5 Linnan, M., T. Reinten and J. R. Wei (2007). A final report to UNICEF Cambodia on The Cambodia Accident and Injury Survey,
2007, Bangkok: The Alliance for Safe Children.
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