The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched the “PROTECT” technical package, a global policy framework aimed at accelerating efforts to reduce drowning as a major public health threat.
The framework, built on seven evidence-based strategies, is expected to guide governments, policymakers and other stakeholders in developing and implementing effective drowning prevention measures.
The PROTECT package focuses on strengthening physical infrastructure to promote safe interaction with water, enhancing rescue and resuscitation capacity for bystanders and emergency responders, improving occupational safety for people who work around water, and enforcing safer standards for water transport.
It also promotes basic swimming and water safety education, stronger childcare systems, and improved preparedness and response to floods and other multi-hazard emergencies.
Speaking at the launch in Accra ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day, observed annually on July 25, the WHO Representative to Ghana, Dr Fiona Braka, described drowning as one of the world’s most neglected yet preventable public health and development challenges.
She said about 300,000 people died from drowning globally each year, with more than 90 per cent of the deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
Children under the age of five and young people under 30 account for a significant proportion of the fatalities.
Dr Braka attributed the burden of drowning to factors such as poverty, rapid urbanisation, climate change, inadequate water safety measures, and increasing reliance on water for transport and livelihoods.
She explained that the PROTECT package offered practical, evidence-based guidance to help governments strengthen policies and systems that promote water safety through coordinated action across sectors, including health, education, transport, disaster management and child protection.
“The launch of the PROTECT package marks the beginning of a new chapter that should lead to safer interactions with water and fewer preventable deaths.
“We know what works to prevent drowning. Evidence-based interventions do exist. They are practical, affordable and effective, but they cannot reach scale without strong policies, legislation and systems that support them,” she stated.
The Deputy Minister for the Interior, Mr Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, said an estimated 1,100 people died from drowning annually in Ghana, representing about three deaths each day, with children and young adults being the most affected.
He said the ministry was strengthening drowning prevention and emergency response by institutionalising specialised water rescue training for emergency responders in swimming, swift-water rescue, boat handling, resuscitation and incident management.
Mr Terlabi noted that the PROTECT framework would complement ongoing national efforts to improve water safety, rescue and resuscitation services, swimming education, safer water transport and emergency preparedness.
He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to working with the WHO and other development partners to implement the technical package, and called for increased investment in rescue boats, life jackets, ropes, communication equipment and medical kits to help reduce drowning-related deaths across the country.
Presenting findings from the WHO 2024 Global Situational Assessment on Drowning Prevention, the WHO Technical Adviser on Drowning, Dr Caroline Lukaszyk, said many countries still lacked comprehensive national policies and legislation on drowning prevention, despite the existence of several community-based interventions.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL & ABIGAIL ANNOH
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