Over 30,000 children equipped with water safety skills in two years
Nearly 14,000 children aged 6 - 15 have been equipped with swimming safety skills, and more than 30,000 with water safety skills over the last two years thanks to classes held by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and relevant agencies in Vietnam.
A swimming class for children in Lang Son province (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Nearly 14,000 children aged 6 - 15have been equipped with swimming safety skills, and more than 30,000 with watersafety skills over the last two years thanks to classes held by the GlobalHealth Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and relevant agencies in Vietnam.
In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency, GHAICountry Director Doan Thu Huyen said drowning remains one of the leading causesof death for under-15 children in Vietnam, with about 2,000 children aged under16 losing their lives to water every year.
Drowning increases in summer, when children have finished theirschool year and spend most of their time at home and in their community,causing not only losses to the country, the community, and their families butalso uncompensable grief and pain to their parents and relatives, she noted.
Since 2018, with support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies, the GHAI at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids of the US has coordinated with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA)and the World Health Organisation to carry out evidence-based interventionsthat suit the Vietnam context so as to help minimise drowning deaths amongunder-15 children.
Huyen said the child drowningprevention programme has been piloted in over 100 communes of eight provinceswith the highest drowning mortality rates in Vietnam. It provided swimmingsafety skills for nearly 14,000 children aged 6 - 15 and water safety skillsfor more than 30,000.
As a result, the rate of childrengetting swimming lessons has almost doubled, from 14.7 percent to 25.5 percent,in the beneficiary areas, higher than the average national rate.
Inthe time ahead, she added, the programme will be expanded to 12 provinces, fromeight at present, with priority given to disadvantaged districts and communes with high drowning mortality rates in children.
The GHAIwill also keep working closely with the MoLISA, relevant sectors, localauthorities, and schools to organise swimming classes for children aged 6 - 15.It hopes to equip about 50,000 children with swimming skills by the end of 2022.
Teaching water safety skills is alsoone of the programme’s priorities, Huyen went on, noting that the skills arenecessary for children to grow up safely and healthily.
She said the efforts could prove useful only when they receive support fromlocal authorities, families, and schools, and that the GHAI is happy that the programme has helped make substantive improvementsto ensure water safety and prevent drowning for children./.
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A swimming class for children in Lang Son province (Photo: VNA) 
