Child Drowning

In the countries surveyed, drowning rates did vary seasonally, with the highest rates occurring during
the rainy season. However, most drowning occurs in the non-rainy season, which typically occupies over
two thirds of the calendar year and therefore lasts much longer than the rainy season, which occupies
one third or less of the year. The surveys also showed that most drowning during the rainy season
occurred in sunny weather. The rains did not cause actual flooding, but increased the amount of
standing water in ditches and ponds, and resulted in many more water hazards in the environment.
Children were able to play outside the house during sunny weather, which exposed them to the risk of
drowning. From a prevention perspective it is necessary to target drowning as a year-round event rather
than a cyclical one and to tailor interventions accordingly.
2.2 DISASTERS MAKE HEADLINES, BUT ARE NOT THE CAUSE OF THE MAGNITUDE OF CHILD
DROWNING
A common misconception is that aquatic disasters, such as tsunamis, flooding or ship/ferry accidents
are a leading contributor to child drowning deaths in Asian LMICs. The surveys showed this is not the
case. Aquatic disasters can have a significant regional impact but are rare events such as the Indian
Ocean tsunami in 2004. While tsunamis can involve many tens of thousands of children drowning as
was the case in Aceh, Indonesia, the rare occurrence of a disaster of this magnitude (usually less than
once every 20 years) means the everyday drowning that occurs each year is responsible for the great
majority of drowning deaths.
More recently, the devastating monsoon floods across south-east Asia from June to November 2011
provide a similar example. The regional total was almost 1,500 deaths with a large proportion of them
children. 27 However, the surveys show that many times this number of children drown every year in
each of the countries affected by the flooding. The surveys found that ferry disasters, which often occur
multiple times a year, were responsible for less than 1 per cent of child drowning deaths. These types of
mass casualty accidents generate significant media attention but are not a substantial cause of child
drowning deaths.
The impression that aquatic disasters cause most drowning is directly related to what is perceived to be
newsworthy. Journalists rarely hear about individual drowning deaths; yet when a ferry capsizes, a large
area floods or a tsunami occurs, a full-scale rescue and recovery operation is mounted, which draws the
attention of the press. As opposed to the fatal drowning of a child, which is immediate, these events
tend to be drawn out over time, so journalists have time to reach the site to cover the event as it
occurs. The death of a child in a drowning incident is tragic for the family and their community, but
there are rarely political or broader social implications that would be considered newsworthy.
The surveys showed the vast majority of the annual drowning deaths among children occur during their
daily life. Since these child drowning deaths occur individually, they rarely attract media attention. Yet
the numbers are so great that over the course of the year, they account for the largest number of
drowned children.
2.3 NOTABLE ISSUES FROM THE COUNTRY DATA
The data from the multiple country surveys highlighted several issues regarding child drowning in LMICs
in Asia. These include:
27 International Disaster Database, Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters, www.emdat.be/result-disasterprofiles?disgroup=natural&dis_type=Flood&period=2011$2011;
accessed 2 January 2012.
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