Regional status report on drowning in South-East Asia

Overview

In 2019, drowning was responsible for 70 034 deaths in the South-East Asia Region. This is the second highest number of deaths from across all regions of the World Health Organization (WHO). Over 33% of these deaths occurred among children under the age of 15 years.

Since the launch of the WHO’s Global Report on Drowning: Preventing a leading killer in 2014, and the follow-up resource Preventing Drowning: an implementation guide in 2017, WHO has been working to scale up advocacy and action for drowning prevention in the South-East Asia Region.

This report presents the findings of the first assessment of drowning prevention in the South-East Asia Region. Ten countries have taken part, shared their knowledge and experience, and taken their first collective step towards addressing drowning in this Region.