World Drowning Prevention Day
Next: July 25, 2027
Anyone can drown. No one should.
The story
Where it comes from
World Drowning Prevention Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on 28 April 2021, in its first ever resolution on drowning, championed by Bangladesh and Ireland. It asks countries to name someone responsible for drowning prevention, draw up national plans, and consider teaching water safety, swimming and first aid in schools. It is a reflective day: around 300,000 people drown every year, most of them young, and nearly all of those deaths could be prevented. The World Health Organization coordinates it.
How it's celebrated
Governments, lifesaving clubs and health groups run water-safety lessons, swimming classes, rescue and resuscitation training, and campaigns aimed at families. WHO's advice is practical: put barriers between small children and water, give pre-school children a safe place to be while adults work, teach school-age children to swim and to rescue safely, and train people in resuscitation. It is a good day to check the fence around a pool, or to book swimming lessons.
Did you know
- Children under five account for about a quarter of all drowning deaths.
- In the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region, which includes Malaysia, Singapore and China, children aged 5 to 14 die more often from drowning than from any other cause.
- The global drowning death rate fell by 38% between 2000 and 2021, showing that prevention works.
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