The data showed, drowning is one of the leading causes of death among Vietnamese children aged 5-14.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, up to 113 children drowned in Vietnam in the first five months of this year.
Fourteen children drowned across the country in the last two weeks of April alone, the Lao Dong Newspaper citied the Ministry’s report.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh recently asked ministries, agencies and localities to strengthen measures to prevent child drowning and ensure child safety.
The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Education and Training to promote the awareness, knowledge and skills in swimming and lifesaving in schools, especially before the summer vacation and organize swimming classes and strengthen cooperation between schools and families to supervise and manage students during holidays and recess to ensure their safety.
The Ministry of Health has been asked to guide medical facilities in providing first aid in case of drowning children.
So far, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will coordinate with relevant agencies to complete teaching materials on water safety skills for children. Currently, the kit is being piloted in 10 cities and provinces.
“We have asked localities to list dangerous areas for children to swim. Warning signs and barricades at these points.” said an official of Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
According to the report, number of drowning cases has decreased by 100 every year. About 50.3 percent of students at the country’s primary and secondary schools have been trained about drowning prevention.
Not only in Vietnam, drowning is a leading cause of death for children. In the United States, more children ages 1–4 die from drowning than any other cause of death except birth defects. For children ages 1–14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes. The US’s CDC reported.
