According to a report published in this daily on Sunday, 14,000 children drown every year in Bangladesh, of which 10,000 are children aged 1-4 years. Incidents of children drowning deaths have significantly increased in recent times. Unexpected drowning of children near the house reservoirs, ponds or lakes is the major reason for this. The government is considering this matter seriously and will look it into it so that such unfortunate deaths of little lives can be prevented.
Drowning is one of the leading causes
of child deaths in Bangladesh
It is good to note that in order to reduce the risk of children's drowning deaths the government is undertaking 'Integrated Community Based Centre for Child Care' and 'Protection and Swim Safe Facilities' projects. We hope when implemented this project will protect children at the highest risk time of the day (from 9 am to 2 pm) when there is no one to look after them. Besides, it will work to protect children under 5 years from all kinds of injuries including drowning. More initiatives should be undertaken to prevent drowning deaths. We need to create safe and affordable child care opportunities such as daycare centres, increase the opportunities of 6- to 10-year-old children to learn to swim and raise awareness among parents by emphasising safety and safe rescue in the water.
We need to create family awareness to prevent drowning deaths of children. Government should look to consider engaging NGOs in its drowning prevention project as this would be beneficial to safeguard maximum exposure with community involvement.