Drowning: A silent killer ~ Guest blog by Graeme, CEF's Australian Manager

An editorial in the Lancet this month draws our attention to some shocking facts: ‘…more than 360 000 people are estimated to die from drowning worldwide. The young, poor, and marginalised are among the worst affected. Most of the world's drowning deaths occur in children, making drowning one of the leading causes of death for children and young people. Drowning incidences in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are over three times higher than in high-income countries, where many people, including children, need to live and work near water to have livelihoods or go to school, but lack effective support to do so safely.’

The above aptly describes the reality in Viet Nam where up to 15 children drown every day. CEF has over 250 children in it’s education programs and they all live close to water of some sort be it the sea, a river, a fish pond or lake. Every year we bring as many of these young people as we can to the beach for a water safety day. We work with Swim Vietnam to help them understand the dangers they face when they get in the water and they are taught how to float and when they can do this the basics of swimming. It’s a fun day too with games on the beach, lunch and then a trip to the cinema. We know of one case when a young man who attended the day several times got into trouble in water and didn’t drown because he knew what to do.

If you’d like to volunteer to help us at the beach this year on Sunday May 28 do email us.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)31269-2/fulltext?dgcid=etoc-edschoice_email_13May

Photo from the article