Interdisciplinary workshop on drowning prevention in children

On the afternoon of July 19, an interdisciplinary workshop was held to share the results of implementing solutions and models to prevent child drowning.

Warning about drowning in children

In her opening speech, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha - Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs informed about the current situation of child drowning prevention and control in Vietnam as well as the interest and contributions of organizations and individuals on this issue. From practical data, the Deputy Minister acknowledged the interest and positivity of 9 ministries, branches, central organizations, and local authorities in the issue of drowning prevention and control in recent times.

Leaders of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs hope that the series of activitiesprevention of drowningin children on World Drowning Prevention Day 25/7 will be an effective forum to get more ideas and solutions in the coming time.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Kelly Larson - Director of the Injury Prevention Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies acknowledged the results achieved in Vietnam in recent times. With many creative approaches and efforts of the authorities, Vietnam deserves to be a typical model in preventing and combating child drowning for other countries to learn from.

With a coastline of 82km, many rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, creeks, dams, hot weather, and erratic rain and floods, Nghe An is a locality that always has a high risk of child drowning. Of the more than 900,000 children in the province, over 13,000 children are in special circumstances, nearly 126,000 children are at risk of falling into special circumstances. This is a reality that makes drowning prevention even more difficult. On average, each year Nghe An has 45-50 children die from drowning.

Many effective solutions

Faced with this reality, in recent years, provincial leaders have issued many plans and dispatches to strengthen the implementation of programs and solutions to prevent accidents, injuries and drowning for children. On average, each year, the provincial budget spends more than 4 billion VND to serve this work.

In particular, after the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 09 dated July 7, 2023 on policies to support investment in swimming pools and swimming lessons for children in Nghe An province, in 2024, the provincial budget supported 9 billion VND to build and install 99 new swimming pools and funds for swimming lessons for 33 schools and communes. Currently, there are about 333 swimming pools in the province (including 124 solid pools and 209 assembled pools).

Since then, localities have also actively mobilized resources to open swimming classes for children with an increasing number of volunteers and trained lifeguards. The rate of children aged 6 to 15 who can swim has doubled from 30% in 2019 to 60% in 2023; the rate of child drowning has decreased significantly...

In addition to the determination of the authorities, many organizations, groups and individuals have joined hands to prevent and combat drowning in children through many specific activities. In particular, the project to prevent and combat drowning in children in Nghe An province by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Children has made many effective contributions.

With a total budget of over 6.4 billion VND, the project has supported safe, free swimming lessons for over 4,000 children, and taught water safety skills to 5,400 children aged 6 to 15 in 16 communes in 4 districts: Dien Chau, Anh Son, Quynh Luu, Anh Son. This meaningful support has improved the living environment, greatly affecting the change in awareness of children, parents and the whole society.

Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long expressed his joy and gratitude to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Bloomberg Charitable Foundation, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Children and other agencies, departments and branches for their many activities to help Nghe An province in the work of preventing and combating child drowning in recent times.

To continue to effectively implement the work of preventing and combating child drowning in the coming time, he hopes that Nghe An will continue to receive attention and financial and technical support from central ministries, departments, and agencies, the Bloomberg Charitable Foundation, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Children, international organizations, and charitable groups and individuals inside and outside the province.

Expecting success and effectiveness of the series of activities responding to World AIDS Daychild drowningOn July 25, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also hoped that delegates would have interesting experiences about the culture, people and landscapes of Nghe An during the event.

At the event, the workshop listened to representatives of central ministries, departments and branches discuss the role, methods and specific activities in preventing and combating child drowning in recent years.

The series of activities in response to World Day for Child Drowning Prevention on July 25th this year will take place over 2 days, July 19th and 20th, with 3 main contents. On July 20th, there will be 2 activities: Family Festival in response to World Day for Child Drowning Prevention on July 25th and visiting the Safe Swimming Program model for children.