World Drowning Prevention Day, declared through the April 2021 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/75/273 “Global drowning prevention”, is held annually on 25 July. This year the theme is "Do one thing - to prevent drowning"
This global advocacy event serves as an opportunity to highlight the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities and offer life-saving solutions to prevent it. An estimated 236,000 people drown every year worldwide, and drowning is among the ten leading causes of death for children and youth aged 1-24 years. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in rivers, lakes, wells and domestic water storage vessels in low- and middle-income countries, with children and adolescents in rural areas disproportionately affected.
To mark the Day, WHO will host a webinar on July 27th. During this global webinar, videos will be shared that showcase how a range of stakeholders have been able to do one thing to advance drowning prevention efforts in the last year - whether as an individual, as a group or as a government.
To participate in this global initiative:
- Use your phone or camera to make a video with a duration of 90 seconds or less that shows and tells us about an initiative or activity that has advanced drowning prevention efforts in your local setting over the last year.
- Please ensure the video is shot in landscape orientation.
- If you provide a video shot in a language other than English, please provide English translation together with timecodes to enable subtitling.
- We kindly request that all submissions are uploaded and shared through virtual digital sharing platforms (such as Google Drive, WeTransfer or YouTube link), no later than 15 July 2022 with a notification sent to Caroline Lukaszyk, WHO Technical Officer for Unintentional Injury Prevention: lukaszykc@who.int
More information on the WHO campaign (in English):
