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2,000 drown in Uganda - new report

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People rescue survivors on Lake Victoria. According to a new report by the World Health Organisation, the biggest contributors to drowning are lakes, rivers, and swimming pools. PHOTO | FILE

Uganda’s efforts to combat drowning are being hampered by a series of issues, including the absence of a national drowning prevention strategy, lack of coordinated mechanisms , and insufficient legislation.

According to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report on drowning prevention, the country also lacks regulations mandating fencing around swimming pools and public water bodies, or mandatory use of life jackets during boating. Additionally, there are no rules to prevent alcohol consumption or sales near public water bodies.

The report released on Friday last week shows that in 2018, while the country reported 1,332 cases of deaths by drowning, in 2021, the WHO global status estimates put the deaths at 2,000. Data from the Life Saving Association of Uganda, a not-for-profit organisation, working on life saving and drowning prevention in the country, indicates that the hotspots of drowning in Uganda include Masaka, Jinja, Serere, Mayuge and Rakai.

The global status report highlights several gaps in water safety measures for pre-school children. These include the lack of daycare services to supervise young children near water bodies, the absence of swimming and water safety education in school curricula, the failure to install barriers to restrict access to water, and the lack of lifeguards at public swimming venues.

However, the report notes that at the subnational level, rescue and resuscitation training programmes, as well as search and rescue services, are operational. Nationally, free weather alerts, disaster warning systems, and community resilience measures for managing flood risks, are in place.

By press time, we were unable to obtain responses from officials at the Ministry of Water and Environment, which hosts the national focal point centre, as well as from representatives of the health sector and the Ministry of Works and Transport, responsible for managing water transport. However, Mr George William Mukasa, the president of Life Saving Association of Uganda, said the problem is real and requires everyone’s effort. Mr Mukasa said the association has mapped all the hotspot areas, gathered data and together with the government, drafted a strategy awaiting final input before being rolled out.

“What we’ve done as Uganda so far, we’ve had the data collection from enough districts, both non-water-based and water-based and the difference is very minor,” he said.

He said as an association, they have embarked on a number of interventions to save lives on the water bodies across the country.

“One is going to be fencing and protection of water bodies. Training of children how to swim because we’ve seen that learning how to swim is the only way you can solve drowning other than telling people to go away from water because one way or another, they will go using the water,” he said. Mr Mukasa said they have also placed focus on training communities near water bodies on how to respond in case of emergencies.

“We have to train people who are dealing with these areas that we have as focus areas such as the boat owners, boat operators and teachers in schools. We have to also look at the community policing, people who are working in the community, the maritime teams,” he said.

He added: “...but the most important thing is to have a national swimming curriculum, which actually now is due for us to do final touches as a technical working group.” Mr Mukasa said once the final touches are made, the national curriculum will be submitted to the National Cultural Development Centre for review before being adopted as a tool by the Ministry of Education.

“The trainers, instructors and others will use it to teach swimming and survival swimming, especially survival because we know people swim for Olympics and do what, but some of them have never done survival. Survival swimming is first as a priority before you go to other recreational aquatic sporting facilities. But, of course, this can’t be done, it’s a multi-sector and as I’ve said, we need support for everyone,” he said.

Mr Mukasa said government needs to come with a policy on fencing swimming pools and other water bodies. According to the report, the biggest contributors to drowning are lakes, rivers, and swimming pools.

“We need not only have policy on lifeguards at the swimming pools, but how to best manage drowning because we’ve seen drowning in swimming pools take the third position in terms of water bodies that kill people,” he said.

Regional, global figures In East Africa, Kenya registered 1,500 deaths from drowning in 2021, Rwanda, with a smaller population, had 800 cases, Somalia, which has the longest coastline in Africa, had 1,900 cases, South Sudan reported 61 cases, Tanzania had 2,500 cases and Burundi had 1,000 cases, according to the WHO estimates.

Globally, WHO said a 38 percent drop in the global drowning death rate since 2000 has been registered, a major global health achievement. However, the report noted that drowning remains a major public health issue, with more than 30 people estimated to be drowning every hour and d 300,000 people dying by drowning in 2021 alone.

Almost half of all drowning occur among people below the age of 29 years, and a quarter occur among children under the age of five years. Children without adult supervision are at an especially high risk of drowning. The Western Pacific Region and the South East Asia Region account for the greatest number of drowning deaths (84 000 and 83,000 respectively, each representing 28 percent of the global drowning burden), while the African Region has the highest drowning death rate (5.6 per 100,000 population).

Drowning by age

The report said drowning predominantly impacts children and young people, with the children aged under 5 years accounting for the largest single share of drowning deaths (24 percent), with a further 19 percent of deaths among children aged 5–14 years, and 14 percent among young people aged 15–29 years. Globally, drowning is the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 1–4 years and the third leading cause of death for children aged 5–14 years.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General said the drop in numbers is a positive trend that must be upheld 

“The significant decline in drowning deaths since 2000 is great news and proof that the simple, practical interventions that WHO recommends work. Still, every drowning death is one death too many, and millions of people remain at risk. This report contains crucial data for policy-making and recommendations for urgent action to save lives.”

The report says progress in reducing drowning has been uneven and at the global level, nine in 10 drowning deaths take place in low and middle-income countries. According to the data presented, the WHO European Region saw a 68 percent drop in drowning death rate between 2000 and 2021,yet the rate fell by just 3 percent in the WHO African Region, which has the highest rate of any region with 5.6 deaths per 100 000 people.

This, the report says may be influenced by the levels of national commitments to address the issue. Within Africa, only 15 percent of countries had a national strategy for drowning prevention, compared to 45 percent of countries in Europea. Mr Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, said while drowning continues to be a major public health issue, progress is possible, particularly if governments work with strong partners at the local level.

“For more than a decade, Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported governments and local organisations that are leading effective drowning prevention efforts. This new report shows what more countries can do to help save thousands of lives every year,” he said.

TIPS WHILE ON UGANDA WATER BODIES

While traveling on different water bodies in Uganda, there are several risks associated, not only limited to drowning, but also attacks from aquatic wildlife, including hippos, crocodiles, snakes and several others. Here are some safety tips for traveling safely on Ugandan water bodies

Wear a life jacket: This will help you to float for some time as you wait for rescue team. Make sure the life jacket you were is authentic and can keep you floating for longer time.

Follow instructions: Pay close attention to the boat skipper’s instructions, especially at landing sites before takeoff and when on the waters. l Use sturdy boats: Boats that are at least 28 feet long are recommended to prevent overturning. Make sure the boats are also in good mechanical conditions.

Avoid overloading boats: Never risk boarding a boat that is overloaded, because overloading is recipe for disaster.

Avoid night travel: There are more risks associated with traveling at night. In case of accidents on the waters, response time is much delayed and stormy waters may worsen the situation. To avoid all this, avoid traveling at night unless you have to or are with someone who is very familiar with the area.

Avoid cloudy conditions: This includes following weather fore- cast because cloudy conditions can increase the risks.

Stay calm: Never get excited while on a boat ride because this can cause the boat to tip over. Stay calm and peaceful on the boat ride and make sure you balance your weight to avoid the boat tilting to one side.

Keep your distance from the rails: Keep your distance from the boat rails in case of turbulence. Please stay at your designated seat or place so that even when there is turbulence, you cannot fall off l Have swimming skills: It’s helpful to have some swimming skills, especially survival swimming skills. This will help you in case of an emergence