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Tomorrow (Sunday 25 July) will mark the first-ever World Drowning Prevention Day (WDPD). It is a timely reminder for those in the northern hemisphere as the hot summer months correlates with a peak in drowning deaths.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) told reporters yesterday (23 July) that drowning is a leading cause of death for children aged under 5 in many countries.
They said that 2.5 million people have died due to drowning in the decade to 2019, of that 60% were under the age of 30 with the highest rates among children under 5.
In 2019 alone, 236,000 people lost their lives in drowning related incidents, excluding flood related mortality and deaths due to water transport accidents.