24/06/2023
A Call to Action: World Drowning Prevention Day – 25 July 2023
Imagine in your mind’s eye 3 majestic Boeing 747’s standing on a runway, ready to depart; each plane seating around 480 passengers, or 25 Metro busses parked behind each other, half of which are filled with youth under the age of 20. This is the number of people who drown annually in South Africa; 1400 to 1500 people.
In April of 2021, the United Nations, at the 75th Sitting of the United Nations General Assembly, adopted the first World Drowning Prevention Day, the 25th July, endorsed and actioned by the World Health Organisation. In May of 2023, the World Drowning Prevention Day was endorsed by the 76th Sitting of the World Health Assembly – both meetings at which the South African Government was represented and soundly supported.
We seek your support in recognising World Drowning Prevention Day in South Africa on 25 July 2023.
Join Lifesaving South Africa in drawing attention to drownings and water-related tragedies in our nation whereby:
• On average around 1 500 citizens lose their lives annually in fatal drownings, and a fair number are incapacitated through non-fatal drownings.
• A large proportion of our country do not have swimming skills and don’t have access to safe swimming facilities.
• They can’t aid someone in the process of drowning or provide first aid in the event they save a person from non-fatal drowning.
• Climate change and the increased incidences of flooding have also exposed the lack of risk mitigation actions by communities and authorities.
• Even in water-scarce regions of our communities, where storing water in all manner of vessels, puts young children at risk of falling headfirst into containers and drowning.
• The stats show that children under five constitute the second-highest fatality of death by drowning (after road deaths), which mirrors the age demographic as reported in the Global Drowning Report (WHO, 2014).
The sad irony is that drowning is preventable –...
