Drowning Prevention, a Story That Never Gets Old: Heartbreaking Numbers

Vietnam has a coastline of more than 3,200 km, over 2,300 rivers, canals, and a large number of streams, ponds, and lakes, creating ideal natural conditions, but at the same time, an environment with many potential risks of drowning accidents for children. According to statistics, Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest rate of child drowning deaths in the world.

According to statistics in 2024, there were more than 500 drowning accidents nationwide, causing nearly 600 children to die.

CONSECUTIVE TRAUMATIC DROWNING ACCIDENTS

On May 28 alone, in Binh Dinh, there were two consecutive drowning accidents. In particular, in Hoai Nhon Town, 3 children including P.Đ.P (19 years old), LVT (14 years old), NVQ (15 years old) went swimming in Tam Quan Nam Ward and were swept away by big waves, causing LVT to go missing. In Phu My District, Mr. NHM actively participated in rescuing 3 children who were swept away by waves. In the end, all 3 children were brought to shore safely, but he died of exhaustion, causing everyone to be extremely sad. Also on May 28, in Bac Lieu , student NTH (5th grader) went out with friends and unfortunately fell into the river and died of drowning.

On May 30, in Trieu Phong District (Quang Tri), NVTA student while playing with a group of friends accidentally slipped and fell into a canal and died. Previously, on May 23, a drowning incident occurred at Quan Tran Dam (Thach That District, Hanoi ), causing the death of 2 students...

Ms. Nguyen Pham Duy Trang, Secretary of the Central Youth Union, Chairman of the Central Council of Young Pioneers, attended the opening ceremony of a swimming class for students in Gia Lai.

PHOTO: HAI PHONG

Vietnam's number 1 swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang confided that every time he reads domestic and international news, his heart aches at the sight of so many heartbreaking cases of children drowning. "When children in the countryside come home from school, they often jump into rivers and lakes to swim. Some children rely on their ability to swim, so they go out into deep water to play and then lose control of themselves or strain their muscles, leading to drowning. Therefore, propaganda and training in drowning prevention skills are extremely important and necessary for everyone," Huy Hoang shared.

RURAL CHILDREN AT HIGH RISK OF DROWN

In recent years, the number of children dying from accidents, especially drowning in Vietnam, has tended to decrease, with an average of 100 cases of drowning each year. However, drowning is still one of the leading causes of death in children. The age group with the highest mortality rate is from 1 to 14 years old and in rural areas with difficult economic conditions, mountainous provinces, and localities with many rivers, streams, and lakes. Children in rural areas are twice as likely to drown as children in urban areas. Drowning accidents not only leave irreparable pain for the victim's family but also cause losses to society. In cases of drowning but not death, children suffer many long-term health consequences with large medical care costs becoming a burden for the family.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chien, Deputy Head of the Department of Sports for All, Vietnam Sports Department, said that in recent years, the Government, ministries, branches, central and local organizations have been paying great attention to directing and implementing the work of preventing and combating drowning, contributing to reducing the number of children drowning. However, the current situation of drowning is still common, especially children who know how to swim, even good swimmers, still drown, including many heartbreaking cases of collective drowning, often occurring during Tet and summer vacations. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Chien, there are many reasons leading to the situation of children drowning. "Children not knowing how to swim and lacking knowledge and skills to prevent drowning are considered the main causes. In addition, the lack of strict management and supervision by adults as well as the lack of guidance from professional staff (rescuers) when children go swimming or have fun in the water are also the reasons for these tragic incidents. In addition, objective factors such as natural disasters, storms and floods, children living near unsafe environments such as rivers, streams, ponds, lakes... or subjective factors such as not following the regulations when participating in waterway traffic, not knowing safe drowning rescue skills... also cause the mortality rate to remain high," Ms. Chien shared.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chien also affirmed that drowning prevention is not the responsibility of any individual but the shared responsibility of all levels, sectors, families, schools and the whole society. In particular, each ministry, sector, organization, unit, locality, school and family needs to pay attention, invest and implement tasks and solutions suitable to their functions, tasks and practical conditions to join hands and contribute to drowning prevention. For each citizen, grandparents, parents, teachers, students, teenagers and children have the responsibility to actively practice swimming, and at the same time be active propagandists to mobilize family, relatives and friends to practice swimming skills, equip themselves with knowledge and skills to prevent drowning.

Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang comes to Gia Lai to teach swimming for free to children, contributing to reducing drowning accidents.

PHOTO: HAI PHONG

JOIN HANDS TO REDUCE DROWN ACCIDENTS

No. 1 swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang, who won more than 10 gold medals at the SEA Games, tells about his unforgettable journey of learning to swim. When he was a child, when he was in kindergarten, right in front of Nguyen Huy Hoang's house in Tien Hoa commune, Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh province was the vast Gianh river. "My older siblings took me to the river to play, but mainly in shallow water, close to the shore. Then, to teach me how to swim, my older siblings pushed me further away from the shore. I still remember the first time my older siblings pushed me far from the shore, I drank a lot of water, my arms and legs struggled continuously to find a way to get to the surface of the water, then I was pulled back in. My older siblings did that a few times before I started to learn how to swim, but they didn't teach me swimming techniques, skills, or how to prevent drowning. Many of my peers at that time also learned to swim on their own or were guided by their parents or older siblings," swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang recalls.

Now that he has become a great swimmer, competing in many major international arenas, Nguyen Huy Hoang said his wish is to go to remote areas to directly instruct people, especially children, on how to swim and how to prevent drowning to help reduce deaths. That is why the "Gianh River otter" happily accepted to attend a free swimming class for children on May 31 in Ia Ka commune, Chu Pah district, Gia Lai province, organized by the Central Council of Young Pioneers. This event aims to implement Plan No. 355 - KH/TWĐTN-TNTH dated March 24, 2025 of the Central Youth Union Secretariat on organizing the 2025 Summer Youth Volunteer Campaign, effectively organizing activities to protect, care for, and educate children during the summer and International Children's Day June 1, and the Month of Action for Children in 2025. (continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phong-chong-duoi-nuoc-chuyen-khong-bao-gio-cu-nhung-con-so-dau-long-185250601210145528.htm