Drowning Prevention should be a Public Health Issue in Nepal

Abstract

Nepal is prone to a range of natural disasters; earthquakes being the most widely recognised one. However, many people are at risk of drowning as the floodings in the autumn of 2024 showed, but this is not recognised enough as a serious public health risk in Nepal. Drowning relates to everyday activities such as bathing and swimming and should be treated as a social and public health problem. The United Nations, particularly the World Health Assembly, has called its member states for accelerating action on drowning prevention.

This mini review paper considered literature covering drowning in children in Nepal and Bangladesh over the past decade. It outlines some of the key drowning risks and the need for active prevention with reference to some tested drowning prevention interventions in neighbouring countries in South Asia. Many of such interventions have been designed and implemented in Bangladesh, a densely populated countries with a load of water.  It has one of the highest rates of drowning, especially among children in the world. Next, the paper highlights some on-going research in this field, especially our newly started research project in Bangladesh, which is aimed at the prevention of drowning in children under two. Finally, the paper concludes with some of the lessons Nepal can learn in this area from its neighbours.