Drowning is the Leading Cause of Preventable Death

Did you know that drowning is the leading cause of preventable death in the world? Nothing is more preventable than drowning!

“Every minute, a child dies from drowning!”

Key Facts:

• There are an estimated 388,000 annual drowning deaths worldwide. (1)
• Global estimates may significantly underestimate the actual public health problem related to drowning.(2)
• Children, males and individuals with increased access to water are most at risk of drowning.(3)
• Low- and middle-income countries account for 96% of unintentional drowning deaths(4)
• Over 60% of the world’s drowning occurs in the WHO Western Pacific Region and WHO South-East Asia Region (5)
• Drowning death rates are highest in the WHO African Region, and are more than eight times higher than in Australia or the United States of America (6)
• China and India have particularly high drowning mortality rates and together contribute 43% of the world’s drowning deaths. (7)
• Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7% of all injury related deaths.(8)
• Nearly 3,600 unintentional drowning deaths occur annually in the United States. That averages to about ten people per day. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger.(9)
• Drowning is the #2 cause of unintentional deaths among children in the United States ages 1 to 14. (10)
• Drowning still ranks 5th for cause of unintentional death among ALL AGES. (11)
• In 2011, a total of 7488 Emergency Department visits were reported for nonfatal drowning, of which 3767 was hospitalized or transferred for further care. (12)
• Children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates. (13)
• Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are males. (14)
• Between 2005 and 2009, the unintentional drowning death rate for African Americans was significantly higher than that of whites across all ages. (15)
• Fear of drowning (on the part of children and their parents) was the number one reason most minorities lack the ability to swim. (16)
• If a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 13 percent chance that a child in that household will learn how to swim. (17)

Sources:
1-9 World Health Organization (WHO)
10-14 Center For Disease and Control (CDC)
15-17 National research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis